Information technology and efficiency in trucking

We develop an econometric model to estimate the impact of Electronic Vehicle Management Systems (EVMS) on the load factor (LF) of heavy trucks. This technology is supposed to improve capacity utilization. The model is estimated on the Quebec subsample of the 1999 National Roadside Survey. The LF is explained as a function of truck, trip, and carrier characteristics. We show that the use of EVMS results in an increase of 16 percentage points of LF on backhaul trips. However, we also find that there is a rebound effect on fronthaul movements, with a reduction of LF by about 7.6 percentage points.