Designing a framework of KPIs to measure and evaluate electric road freight : A qualitative study of the market perspectives

Sammanfattning: The electrification of the road freight sector has been visible in society during the last couple of years, where several companies have started to o↵er electric solutions. Further, this is due to an increased awareness of the negative impact of transport on the environment. However, Key Per- formance Indicators (KPIs) for evaluation and benchmarking have not kept up with the transition, creating a problem for new electric solutions to be communicated and understood.  The following study has been conducted with a Partner Company, which is a Swedish company that currently o↵ers electric transport. The Partner Company experiences a knowledge gap regarding which KPIs transport buyers follow up, whereas they want to know which KPIs are demanded when going electric. Therefore, a framework of KPIs could facilitate communication between stakeholders on the market and, with some adjustments, also be tailored to fit the Partner Company’s business. The purpose of the study is thus to design a framework of KPIs to measure and evaluate electric road freight and further adjust the framework to Partner Company. Developing a framework of KPIs requires structuring the constituent parameters to ease usability and practical applicability. The literature highlights that designing a framework can be done by determining KPIs, character- istics of the KPIs, and an appropriate categorization. Therefore, literature was studied regarding transport, KPIs, and processes of developing frameworks of KPIs. Together with the literature and the background, the process developed further acted as a basis for developing the study’s three Research Questions, aiming to ease answering the study’s overall purpose. The first Research Question is based on understanding traditional, fossil-driven road freight. The second Research Question aims to design a framework connected to electric road freight. When answering these questions, empirical data consisted of semi-structured interviews with transport buyers, transport providers, associated organizations, OEMs, and internal interviews at the Partner Company. The data collected was further analyzed to enable answering the Research Questions. Furthermore, the third Research Question intended to adjust the framework to fit the Partner Company, where a workshop with the Partner Company acted as empirical input and, together with an analysis of answers, further answered the last Research Question.  The framework developed was designed to facilitate communication between transport providers and transport buyers. Therefore, it was essential to capture transport buyers’ concerns, level of knowledge, and maturity regarding electric road freight and match the needs with the transport provider’s o↵ers.  After analyzing empirical data validated by literature, a cross-functional categorization of the framework could be made. KPIs were selected and assigned in the constituent categories of De- livery service, Costs, Operational electric, Planning and optimization, and Environmental impact. Furthermore, several characteristics were applied to each of the included KPIs, where important characteristics are; based on data, traceable, transparent, and market-oriented. In order to meet the study’s purpose, the framework was further adjusted to the Partner Company. The adjusted framework created a clear structure to facilitate when the Partner Company communicates KPIs with transport buyers. Several KPIs are recommended to be raised to solely build trust during the sales process. Other, more operational KPIs should be used by existing customers when following up the transport activity, and some KPIs should be written when the Partner Company contracts with new customers. In conclusion, the study’s purpose was achieved, as the framework developed is considered to facilitate the measuring and evaluation of electric road freight. The generalizability of the framework enables stakeholders in the market to further apply it within their businesses. The framework reduces the knowledge gap and increases communicability for improved benchmarking. Further, as the framework can act as a standard, the understanding of electric road freight can increase, something the study’s problematization was intended to facilitate.