Analysing the Economic Well-Being of Freight Transport Companies with Disaggregated Data for Brazilian States

Efficient use of the transport systems can increase well-being and ensure gains for the society. The reduction of the costs involved in transport operation can occur through management, investments or using more efficient infrastructures. Well-being gains are weighted based on economic theory, particularly with the classical welfare function that measures consumer surplus gains. Therefore, this paper aims to analyze the economic well-being of freight transport companies with disaggregated data for Brazilian states. Data from a Declared Preference Survey for the entire Brazilian territory were used. We made an estimation of logit models to estimate the value of travel time, and a logsum measure was used to calculate differences in well-being for freight transport companies. The results show heterogeneity of Brazilian shippers when choosing the transport mode for freight transport companies. The research deepens investigations underway in Brazil, disaggregating the analysis at the state level, and simulating different scenarios to describe well-being and the value of travel time. The results show significant differences in the choice of road modes compared to their competing modes by regions in Brazil. The findings indicate that states may have greater marginal well-being gains with changes in transport costs, transport time, delivery reliability, and flexibility