A Study of Indian Wholesalers for Mode Choice Decisions in Urban Goods Distribution

Shippers make key decisions about shipment size and mode selection to lower total logistics costs. In this study, discrete choice models are developed for the urban distribution of commodities from wholesalers to retailers in the Indian city of Jaipur. To analyse market variance, the freight mode choice model selects two wholesale markets: building hardware (BHM) and electronics (EM). A structured questionnaire and a face-to-face, pencil-and-paper survey were employed to gather primary data. For all wholesale markets, binary logit models comprised of non-mortised transport (NMT), three-wheel commercial vehicle (3W), four-wheel commercial vehicle (4W), and light commercial vehicle (LCV) modes were developed for various time, cost, and distance combinations. Tonne-kilometre travelled (TKT) across commodity distribution and vehice kilometres travelled (VKT) are more suitable variables for intracity good distribution.