The Value of Time in Freight Transport

One of the key aspects of the evaluation of any transport project involves the monetary valuation of travel time. The intrinsic characteristics of freight transport make the estimation of the value of freight travel time somehow more challenging than the corresponding value for passenger transport. These challenges involve the identification of the decision maker—carriers or shippers—and the heterogeneity of freight transport flows—transported goods, transport chains, units of reference—as well as an additional difficulty in data collection due to the commercial nature of the activities under study. In this chapter, these specific characteristics of the value of time (VOT) in freight transport are outlined, highlighting how the various methodologies have dealt with the idiosyncrasies of this key indicator and approaching some of the key challenges that affect the VOT.