Public policy intervention in freight transport costs: effects on printed media logistics in the Netherlands

Trends in contemporary logistics management have led to an increased transport-intensity of production and distribution activities. Transport costs are increasingly traded off against other logistical costs and seem to have lost importance in strategic decision-making. At the same time, in Europe, transport policy aims at regulating freight transport demand by manipulating its costs, for instance, via taxation. In addition, investment in infrastructure lags behind growth in transport, potentially resulting in increased congestion. This paper explores how effective manipulation of transport costs is in order to regulate freight transport demand in supply chains for books and newspapers.