Transportation barriers in local and regional food supply chains

Abstract

Large-scale food supply chains in the U.S. are cost efficient but lack resilience to external shocks. One approach to increasing food system resilience is through regionalization, in which a large and distributed network of diverse and independent farms provides redundancy and spreads out risk. However, the decentralized structure of regional food supply chains (RFSCs) inhibits transporta­tion efficiencies, which increases producers’ costs and limits their market reach. Outsourcing trans­portation to commercial carriers and collaborating with other producers are two highly recom­mend­ed strategies for improving RFSC transpor­tation efficiency, but research on producers’ perceptions of these strategies is limited. This paper describes research that seeks to understand the major transportation barriers that prevent RFSC pro­ducers from efficiently reaching broader markets and how these barriers might be overcome. Focus groups with RFSC pro­ducers throughout the U.S. state of Texas were administered, with results indicating that partici­pants view transportation as a significant barrier to their businesses’ growth and financial success. Out­sourcing transportation to commercial carriers is viewed as a highly desira­ble alternative to self-delivery but is also con­sidered to be expensive and insufficiently flexible. Nearly all participants were excited about the idea of collaborative transporta­tion, but there were serious concerns about compe­tition and logistical coordination. Despite these barriers, the results suggest that the formation of regional transporta­tion cooperatives and/or the development of information and communication technology infrastructure to facilitate collaboration could provide a path forward. Moreover, the criti­cality of transportation for RFSCs underscores the need for public funding to support implementation of these strategies.