CARRIER SELECTION - DO SHIPPERS AND CARRIERS AGREE, OR NOT

Previous carrier selection studies involving both shipper and carrier perspectives have discovered numerous differences between shippers and carriers, at least in terms of mean score comparisons. However, analy sis of the relative importance of the selection factors (not reported in previous studies) uniformly shows a high degree of similarity betwe en shippers and carriers. A new shipper-carrier study, investigating a more specific selection (of truckload general freight carriers), disc overed a similar dichotomy between the mean score and relative compari sons. The paper concludes by developing several research propositions and by offering suggestions for additional research. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.