Analyzing private communities on Internet-based collaborative transportation networks

The establishment of private communities on Internet-based transportation networks is a relatively new trend that has met with mixed success. Within industry, there has been uncertainty over the costs and benefits of these communities to shippers and carriers. Through a theoretical model based on assumptions derived from industry executives, this paper suggests that shippers may indeed benefit by establishing private communities. Further, the results show that in high-trust relationships carriers may be no worse off by cooperating with shippers in their private communities.