Title: Information and communication technology adoption in the Italian road freight haulage industry

Authors: Pietro Evangelista; Edward Sweeney

Addresses: IRAT-CNR and Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, P.le Tecchio 80, 80125 Naples, Italy ' National Institute for Transport and Logistics, Dublin Institute of Technology, Bolton Street, Dublin 1, Dublin, Ireland

Abstract: Despite the importance of information and communication technology (ICT) in the management of transport and logistics systems, there is a shortage of studies in the road freight haulage sector. This paper is aimed at filling this void through an exploratory survey on ICT adoption and the influencing factors carried out in the Italian road transport market. The paper provides a review of the previous research on this topic that allows the identification of research gaps that have been addressed through a questionnaire survey. The findings provide evidence of a passive stance on ICT usage characterised by the adoption of isolated applications. The financial risk associated with technology investment and human resources are the main barriers to ICT adoption, while the improvement of service level and the reliability of transport operations emerge as stimulating factors. The results suggest that the potential benefits of technology have not been fully exploited and a risk-sensitive stance on ICT is evident preventing the full incorporation of ICT into business processes.

Keywords: information and communications technology; ICT adoption; influencing factors; road freight; haulage industry; Italy; questionnaire survey; information technology; transport management; logistics management; financial risk; technology investment; human resources; service levels; operational reliability.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLSM.2014.065496

International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management, 2014 Vol.19 No.3, pp.261 - 282

Received: 17 May 2013
Accepted: 23 Jul 2013
Published online: 07 Nov 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article