MUTUAL SPECIALISATION, SEAPORTS AND THE GEOGRAPHY OF AUTOMOBILE IMPORTS

Abstract

This paper argues for a more actor-centred approach in freight transportation studies, one that includes freight shippers and public authorities, as well as carriers, and that pays close attention to the relationships between these actors. One advantage of this approach is that it focuses on the conditions under which global logistics flows may become relatively fixed in particular localities. The perspective is illustrated through a discussion of the geography of port usage by importers of automobiles to the US since 1980. The need to secure space at or near marine terminals for vehicle processing activities is a driving factor in port selection. While the overall trade in automobiles has not become concentrated in fewer ports over the last 20 years, individual firms are concentrating the bulk of their import operations in fewer ports. This mutual specialisation involves a process of interpenetration between actors that is only visible in a disaggregated analysis.

Managing maritime automobile terminals: an approach toward decision-support model for higher productivity

“…Namely, a variety of types of maritime automobile terminals are in function around the world differing in layout, shape, process organization, handling technology and automation level, static capacity for storage, etc. Terminals also differ between regions, countries and very often within certain countries (Hall, 2004). According to our analysis this is also the situation in the northern Adriatic.…”

On structural inelasticity of modal substitution in freight transport

“…the production of iron ore in Northern Sweden). Also as noted in Hall (2004), high value industries such as the car industry, may in fact be dependent on a dedicated infrastructure. This underlines the importance of dealing with commodities separately.…”

Distribution Centers among the Rooftops: The Global Logistics Network Meets the Suburban Spatial Imaginary

“…As a result, many industries have shifted to long commodity chains or global production networks, dividing up the production process to minimize costs at each stage, since the cost of transporting a half‐finished product between factories is minimal (Hesse, 2006). Whilst there has been a considerable amount of literature on the nature of these chains or networks, there has been little that explores the way in which transportation matters to these production processes (but see Hall, 2004; Cidell, 2008b).…”