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Estimates the extent to which electronic data interchange (EDI) is currently used in the motor carrier industry and examines motor carrier EDI issues. The analysis is based on data collected from a survey of 266 Class I and II motor carriers. The major findings include: the use of EDI industry‐wide is fairly significant in terms of freight revenues coming from EDI shippers; smaller motor carriers lag behind in the use of EDI; the motor carrier decision to implement EDI appears to be customer‐service – or marketing‐driven; and EDI use by motor carriers is evolving towards standardization. Suggests that further research is needed to gain a better understanding of the degree to which the trucking industry is sharing in the benefits of EDI use and the role which the smaller carrier will have in the growth of EDI use.

The purpose is threefold: to assess International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management's (IJPDLM's) reputation for quality and impact; to identify leading articles and authors during the journal's 40‐year history; and to report on the international diversity of the journal's author base and the diversity of its subject matter over the last five years.

The paper uses the following: literature review of recent journal articles that assessed the quality of logistics and supply chain management (SCM) journals; IJPDLM article download counts and article counts per author over last 40 years; and assessment of subject matter content and geographical base of authors for articles published in IJPDLM over the last five years.

IJPDLM consistently ranks among the top logistics and supply chain journals on the basis of research quality and usefulness. IJPDLM is quite diverse both with respect to logistics subject matter and to the location of its authors. The most popular topics over the last five years are: purchasing and supply management; inter‐organizational relationships; customer service and demand management; and logistics outsourcing/3PL. A key emerging research area for logistics and SCM is the discipline's contributions to addressing important societal issues.

The findings pertaining to current and emerging research areas will be of interest and value to all logistics and SCM researchers.

The analysis of IJPDLM's reputation and the assessment of the subject matter it covers are both original and of interest to prospective authors.

To assess the role of leader‐member exchange (LMX) in affecting voluntary turnover in a high turnover work context.

Following consideration of traditional predictors of employee turnover, how LMX is related to voluntary turnover is examined among 207 over‐the‐road truck drivers using a telephone survey.

Leader member exchange is found to be nonlinearly related to turnover such that turnover is lowest when LMX is moderate (i.e. both “bad” and “good” LMX are associated with higher levels of turnover).

Findings indicate that LMX and other antecedents should be examined for nonlinear relationships to turnover. This research may help to bridge the gap between turnover research and that associated with supervision and leadership.

These study results suggest that unrealistic expectations should not be formed regarding the power of any single factor (e.g. LMX) to reduce turnover.

This paper suggests that nonlinear relationships between antecedents of turnover and turnover receive fuller consideration.

U.S. Customs administration plays an important role in the structure and efficiency of international logistics. The Customs Modernization and Informed Compliance Act was passed in December 1993 with the objective of improving the efficiency of the U.S. customs process. The principle logistics benefits for the trade community and the means by which they are to be accomplished include faster clearance and lower transaction costs via increased automation and remote entry, and decreased congestion at ports of entry via a reduction in the number and complexity of formal entries. These gains are offset somewhat because some traditional Customs responsibilities have been shifted to importers of record. This will increase their compliance costs and penalty risk exposure. The key changes presented in the act and potential implications for the parties involved in the importing process are described.

One of the less observed results of transportation deregulation has been the explosive growth of transportation intermediaries or third‐party specialists such as brokers, shippers' agents and integrated leasing companies for use by industrial purchasers and marketing management. Such transportation intermediaries have the performance potential and apparent reasons for existence to suggest that they can both reduce delivered product costs and enhance service quality attributes to promote a company's competitive advantage. In a broader sense, intermediaries may be ideally positioned to assist in coordinating and processing information for the entire value‐added chain.

The term “library management” covers many different aspects of the way that a library is operated and conjures up different concepts in the minds of different people, depending on their own interests, agendas and requirements. Research into the subject is even more difficult to define because the application of research in one field can be vital to the development of another. Some researchers would not consider their research central to library matters at all, whereas the practising librarian might well see it as casting new light on a difficult area of understanding or development.

Legal standards that allow teens to make health care decisions, or any important decisions, must account for the contingency and variability of minors’ capacity. Traditional law denied minors’ legal authority to make any decisions, giving all power to parents. This rule goes too far; the Supreme Court has held that minors have constitutionally protected autonomy-based rights, and modern views about adolescence are inconsistent with the rule. The question is how and where to draw lines.

Legal standards are based on minors’ evolving maturity, policy favoring decisions that follow medical advice, and policy supporting parental authority. This paper uses four hard cases to show how these considerations factor into legal rules.