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Increasing load factor is crucial for transport efficiency and may benefit shippers because of its potential to reduce both environmental impact and transportation costs. The purpose of this paper is to explore how shippers can increase load factor in their road transport by identifying opportunities for logistics action and influences on load factor performance measures created by such opportunities.

A case study is performed of the outgoing goods flow from the central warehouse of a large retailer in Sweden. Data are collected from interviews with the shipper and its contracted freight forwarder, as well as from archival sources and visual observations, and applied to produce a framework.

Logistics actions that can increase load factor are identified and categorised according to packaging efficiency, loading efficiency and booking efficiency, all of which are linked to logistics variables and specific performance measures in the framework. Visual observations of volumetric load factor in vehicles indicate room for improvement via, for example, making lead times more flexible.

The framework’s principles can be used to support shippers in finding opportunities to increase load factor.

The framework clarifies the concept of load factor as a whole by explaining each logistics action’s contribution to increasing load factor, as well as the actions’ combined effect in the context of a shipper and its purchased transport share.

The purpose of this paper is to clarify how activities may be coordinated within shippers’ organisations to enable high load factor (a key aspect of transport efficiency).

A multiple-case study involving three shippers was conducted, in which the logistics or transport managers of each company were interviewed. The cases were analysed according to which activities were coordinated to achieve high load factor, interdependencies between the activities, and the coordination mechanisms that shippers adopted.

A matrix is developed to show the differences in applying various coordination mechanisms in eight categories, according to intrafunctional or interfunctional coordination, sequential or reciprocal interdependencies, and the number of activities (dyadic or multiple). For example, coordination mechanisms aimed at exerting control are more suitable for intrafunctional than interfunctional interaction; interfunctional coordination relies more on mechanisms that aim to increase the understanding of transport-related issues among non-logistics activities.

The study is based on data from three Swedish companies.

Managers are provided with suggestions for coordinating activities when their goal is to improve load factor. These findings are of interest for reducing costs and emissions.

In response to suggestions in the earlier literature that shippers could improve their internal coordination to improve their load factor, this paper articulates several mechanisms for performing such coordination in eight situations.

The relationship between airports and airlines is very interesting from an economics perspective, and analysis of this relationship is wide open for new research endeavors. For instance, airport and airline interactions can be viewed as a zero-sum game of deciding, say, airport landing charges, while at the same time both entities have an incentive making a joint effort to enhance their ability to generate passenger demand and to contribute to growing regional economies. Within this theoretical framework, their relationship consists of not only a binary choice of conflict or cooperation, but also suggests the possibility of complex mixtures of conflict and cooperation. While understanding the interdependence of airports and airlines is an important issue in transportation economics, research examining the complexity of airport and airline relationships is relatively new to the field. This chapter contributes to this research area, in part, by introducing one very interesting example of an airport and airline relationship that considers an element of conflict and cooperation. Specifically, this chapter examines the economic consequences of a risk sharing contract. Analysis of the risk sharing contract recognizes the relevance of microeconomic theories, such as contract theory and principal–agent theory and reveals how these concepts can be applied to traditional transport economics. Predictions of risk sharing between airlines and airports using these theories are derived using numerical examples. Findings reveal that the risk-sharing agreement based on the Noto Airport Load Factor Guarantee Mechanism (LFGM) contract enables the airport side and the airline side not only to share the monetary consequences of demand fluctuation, but also to secure air flights from a local airport to Tokyo, to jointly enhance their various demand-inducing efforts, and to increase their utilities in order to meet the common target they set in the contract. With the LFGM contract, both sides have consistently maintained the air transport network in a relatively low demand area for more than 10 years without significant outside financial assistance. The findings from this chapter also contribute to better understanding the complex relationships among aviation entities, to the recognition of importance and potential to design properly the airport and airline contract, and to the advancement of economic and public policy analysis of this sector.

THE values of the load factors used in de‐signing an aeroplane are almost direct measures of its strength. They also affect the weight of a certain portion of the aeroplane structure. Although the percentage of gross weight that depends directly on the magnitude of the design load factors is not as large as might be supposed, it represents a considerable potential pay load on large aeroplanes and therefore warrants careful consideration of the basic question: What is the minimum load factor consistent with safety?

Daniel and Titman (1997) contend that the Fama‐French three‐factor model’s ability to explain cross‐sectional variation in expected returns is a result of characteristics that firms have in common rather than any risk‐based explanation. The primary aim of the current paper is to provide out‐of‐sample tests of the characteristics versus risk factor argument. The main focus of our tests is to examine the intercept terms in Fama‐French regressions, wherein test portfolios are formed by a three‐way sorting procedure on book‐to‐market, size and factor loadings. Our main test focuses on ‘characteristic‐balanced’ portfolio returns of high minus low factor loading portfolios, for different size and book‐to‐market groups. The Fama‐French model predicts that these regression intercepts should be zero while the characteristics model predicts that they should be negative. Generally, despite the short sample period employed, our findings support a risk‐factor interpretation as opposed to a characteristics interpretation. This is particularly so for the HML loading‐based test portfolios. More specifically, we find that: the majority of test portfolios tend to reveal higher returns for higher loadings (while controlling for book‐to‐market and size characteristics); the majority of the Fama‐French regression intercepts are statistically insignificant; for the characteristic‐balanced portfolios, very few of the Fama‐French regression intercepts are significant.

Organizations regularly use budgets as benchmarks for performance, and budgets represent a key control feature for almost every organization (Brown and Solomon (1993)). Research has demonstrated that outcome effects are pervasive in performance evaluation processes, and that performance evaluators do not interpret situational information consistently. An experiment is conducted to examine the effects of situational information on managers’ performance and ability attributions under conditions of favorable and unfavorable financial outcomes. The findings indicate that when financial outcomes are unfavorable, outcome effects dominate the performance evaluation process, and situational information has little effect on performance evaluations. The results of cognitive load manipulations indicate that situational information is not ignored, but rather discounted when financial outcomes are favorable.

Whether the risk factors or firm characteristics cause the value premium of stocks still needs further investigation. This paper shows that the factor‐based models are significant but not sufficient for the stock returns in Taiwan. Size or book‐to‐market ratio alone cannot influence the stock returns under a factor‐based model. However, size along with book‐to‐market is significant under a factor‐based model. Furthermore, the risk characteristics are more influential than the factor load in stock return behavior. We conclude that employing only a factor‐based model or only risk characteristics will not consider some important content in stock returns.

We would like to thank C. Y. Chen, Wenchih Lee, two anonymous referees and the seminar participants at the 2000 FMA annual meeting for their helpful comments and encouragement. All of the remaining errors are our responsibility.

THE major problems connected with the development of satisfactory structural strength requirements have long since been solved. We have, in this country, an empirical system of specification which fulfils the fundamental criterion of any strength system, namely, that failures in the air through lack of adequate strength of any component of an aircraft are extremely rare. An analysis of civil accidents (Ref. 1) shows that about 6 per cent are due to this cause. This does not imply any reason for regarding even this small number with complacency, rather the reverse.

IT is shown that the down gust requirement is open to the objection that heavier loads may be taken by the front spar at lightly loaded weight than those for which the spar was designed. This is normally covered by the factor of safety of 2, but the method of calculating the loads on a basis of all up weight is not very rational. Some available data concerning the magnitudes of down gusts are reviewed and the sharp‐edged gust hypothesis briefly examined. The British requirement is compared with those of the I.C.A.N. and the U.S.A. The conclusions are that there are no very practical alternatives to sharp edged theory and while the estimate of the magnitudes of normal down gusts at 25 f.p.s. appears satisfactory and British standards of strength in this respect need not be tightened up, a modification to the requirement to meet the above objection is desirable. A suggested alternative is put forward.

The non-stationary operational wind loads vary in time and site and has remarkable effect on wind turbine drive train. The purpose of this paper is to determine the effects of wind class 3 and 7 on the life of wind turbine drive train. The two-wind class 3 and 7 are described by average wind speed and weight factor and effects of two variables on wind energy generation and wind turbine drive train studied.

The load distribution method is used to calculate stress range cycles for wind class 3 and 7. To determine the rise of force on wind turbine drive train, the load cycle method is proposed. The fatigue damage model is studied with respect to influence of different wind speeds and wind shear factor and then results analysed accordingly. Also sensitivity analysis has been carried out to assess the percentage of drop of energy generation and rise of tangential force for wind class 3 and 7. Linear fit method is used to determine the inclination of wind variation and wind shear of wind class 3 and 7. In this regard, two practical wind sites fall under the wind class 3 and 7 and 1.5 MW wind turbine have been taken in to account.

The results showed that the average rise of force on wind turbine drive train is 37.5% which can influence the drop in energy 34.7% for wind class 3. Similarly, the results of wind class 7 are showing that the average rise in force and drop in energy found to be 49.05% and 51.16%, respectively. The wind class 7 have higher tendency of wind fluctuations and weight factor that can cause a damage to wind turbine drive train components. The results showed that when wind speed increases to rated power 11.5 m/s the damages occurred and remain steady. Similarly, when weight factor increased from 0.18 to onwards the damage occurred. The increased wind loads increased the tangential loads on the wind turbine decreased life of the gearbox.

The results of study suggest that wind turbine should be design according to site specific wind environment for maximum energy generation and lowers the wind loads on the drive train component.