Cost Models and Cost Factors of Road Freight Transportation: A Literature Review and Model Structure

This paper presents a detailed comparative review of cost models and cost factors published in a number of studies on freight transportation. It attempts to determine and categorise cost factors from a different point of views in the reviewed studies which include cost factors (operational costs, value of time and external costs), study area (Europe, the United States, North America and Asia) and cost models (activity-based costing (ABC), statistical models, surveys, data mining, GIS, meta-analysis and Mathematical models). The results are assessed by comparison with the reviewed studies. The paper also proposed two model structures; (1) Road freight transportation costs (2) Road freight transportation cost estimating methods and data gathering. These models are designed to identify any gaps between the types of cost or any inconsistencies in cost factors and consist of an overall structure and multiple substructures.