Abstract
The objective of this research is to understand the demand for information technology among trucking companies. A multivariate discrete choice model is developed using data from a large-scale survey of the trucking industry in California. Nineteen characteristics of trucking operations were found to be significant in explaining demand for seven different information technologies ranging from automatic vehicle location systems to vehicle routing and scheduling software. The model is designed to estimate the influences of each of the nineteen operational characteristics on the propensity to adopt each of the seven different information technologies, while simultaneously allowing the seven error terms to be freely correlated. Results showed that the distinction between for-hire and private fleets is paramount, as is the provision of intermodal maritime and air services. Use of satellite communication was also strongly related to average length of loaded movements, while use of automatic vehicle location systems (AVL) was predicted by provision of refrigerated and hazardous materials transport. Propensity to use automatic vehicle identification (AVI) transponders is predicted by provision of general truckload service and size of operation. Use of electronic data interchange (EDI) is predicted by provision of refrigerated and hazardous goods services and is higher among both large and small fleets