ABSTRACT
Pricing strategies in general aim to affect the nature and extent of urban freight activities through the pricing mechanism. In theory, a system of 'road pricing' is the key to solving traffic congestion problems in any city. The essence of road pricing is that all vehicles are charged for the use of road space according to the marginal costs that they impose on others, including congestion costs and perhaps other external costs as well. Road pricing has been criticised on several grounds in so far it might be applied to urban goods movement. However, in a study related to air quality impacts of large trucks in California, the Technical Advisory Group suggested that road pricing could lead to unintended results, such as consolidation of the trucking industry. Trucking firms may be reluctant to refine their rates to more accurately reflect costs attributable to a particular customer, since they would run the risk of losing the business.
