The contemporary motor carrier salesperson: An analysis of shipper and carrier perspectives

One of the continuing concerns of the motor carrier industry is the need to upgrade the knowledge and skills of its salespeople. The paper reports the findings of a study which attempts to identify the specific characteristics of salespeople that require upgrading or improvement. The study is unique in the sense it examines and compares the views of both shippers (i.e. ‘buyers’) and carriers (i.e. ‘sellers’) of trucking services. Overall, both the univariate and multivariate analysis indicate that shippers and motor carrier sales managers have very different perceptions regarding desirable salesperson attributes, with shippers advocating less emphasis on personal traits and more attention to service and knowledge-related attributes. This suggests that motor carriers, in general, have been slow to adapt their sales management policies and practices to the realities of the contemporary transportation environment.