THE EFFECT OF FUEL PRICE INCREASE ON TRANSPORT COST OF CONTAINER TRANSPORT VEHICLES

Abstract

This study presents the impact of fuel price increase on the transport cost of containers by using
container vehicles. ArcGIS was used to build the transport network while MATLAB software was used to
develop Dijkstra’s shortest path algorithm and coding the transport cost equation. In this study, two case studies
were analyzed with Johor Port as the origin and, the Port Klang and top-north-point were considered as
destinations for cases 1 and 2. The optimum routes for each mode of transport were identified. The results of
least-cost routes against fuel price increase were compared for shipment of containers from origin to destination
in the intermodal network of Peninsular Malaysia. In the analysis, fuel price was increased from its current
price sequentially to 100%. Based on the assumptions of this study, the results showed that transport cost of a
container by train was significantly lower than truck even when the fuel price of the train was doubled.
Comparing train-based and ship-based optimal routes revealed that transport cost by train, when its fuel price
doubled, was slightly higher than ship in case 1. While in case 2, transport cost by train when its fuel price
doubled was considerably cheaper than the ship-based route in its current fuel price. It can be concluded that
fuel price increase has the highest impact on transport cost of containers by ship, followed by train and truck.
The presented methodology and procedure are applicable for any origin-destination pair in the transport
network.