Feasibility study for the introduction of synchromodal freight transportation concept

The current weaknesses of the conventional intermodal freight transportation system have led to the development of the synchromodal freight transportation concept introduced and piloted in the Netherlands. The innovative concept has the advantage of adding flexibility, cost reduction, and sustainability among other things, into the freight transportation system. The synchromodal system has not been started in any developing country yet due to its newness. In this study, we used multiple methodologies to conduct a feasibility study for the possibilities of introducing the concept in a developing country, Ghana. An intensive literature review was performed using the Grounded Theory and the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) method to identify the key factors for the introduction of the synchromodal concept. Questionnaires were administered to the primary stakeholders in the maritime-hinterland transportation sector to solicit their views about the factors necessary for the implementation. We next carried out SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis to catalogue the strengths and *Corresponding author: Aaron Agbenyegah Agbo, School of Logistics Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China; Department of Logistics and Transportation Services, Ghana Prisons Service, Accra, Ghana E-mail: [email protected] Reviewing editor: Manoj Kumar Tiwari, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India Additional information is available at the end of the article ABOUT THE AUTHORS Aaron Agbenyegah Agbo is a senior lecturer at Accra Institute of Technology (AIT), Ghana, and currently a researcher at Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China. His research interests include Sustainable Transportation, Logistics Management, and Synchromodal Freight Transportation Systems. The study reported of in this article is the first part of series of studies being currently undertaken in Ghana. Wenfeng Li is a professor at the School of Logistics Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, China. His research directions include integrated logistics and Internet of Things (IoT). Charles Atombo is a lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering Department of Ho Polytechnic, Ghana. His research interests include Transportation, Logistics Management, and Road Safety Management. Gabriel Lodewijks is a professor at the Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. His research areas include logistics engineering and maritime-hinterland transportation. Lanbo Zheng is an associate professor in the School of Logistics Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology. Her research interests are linear programming, combination optimisation and supply chain management. PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT Supply chain is growing and increasing globally, and as a result, products travel long distances in recent times than ever before from their origins to reach final destinations (consumers). This has brought about the consumption of larger amount of fuel, resulting in more greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and increasing levels of local air pollution. It has been observed that road freight is a major contributor to carbon emissions into the environment. Thus, finding a sustainable system for maritime-hinterland freight transportation has become a concern to all. In this work, we carried out a feasibility study for the introduction of the concept of synchromodal freight transportation system in a developing country, Ghana. Multiple methodologies were used to solicit the knowledge of stakeholders in the freight transportation business about the introduction of the concept. This paper motivates, assists and inspires all researchers interested in sustainable freight transportation system through integrated transport modes. Received: 12 December 2016 Accepted: 02 March 2017 First Published: 14 March 2017 Page 2 of 25 © 2017 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license. Aaron Agbenyegah Agbo