Editors' Introduction

Editors’ Introduction In conjunction with the annual APICS conference in San Antonio, we­ recognized the recipients of the Best Paper Awards for papers published in the Summer 2016 through Spring 2017 issues. The selection committee chose for the first-place award: “Full Steam Ahead: Firms in the US Economy Adjust Inventory for Changes in Transportation Costs But Not the Reverse” by David Swanson, Brent D. Williams, Jingping Gu, and Matthew A. Waller (Summer 2016; vol. 55, no. 3). In their paper, the authors noted that theory suggests that transportation and inventory polices are often viewed as offsetting policies. However, the results of their research suggest that theory does not translate to practice. Their analysis of aggregate transportation and inventory costs in the US indicates that rather than offset each other these two policies are in long-term equilibrium. Furthermore, their findings indicate that while inventory policies are adjusted for changes in transportation cost, the opposite is not true. While most research has examined these costs at a firm level, this study utilizes an aggregate measurement approach. This novel approach uncovered the need for future research to explicitly integrate economic theory more strongly into logistics theory and practice. The selection committee chose the paper by Yao “Henry” Jin, David Swanson, Matthew Waller, and John Ozment for the second-place honor. Their paper, “To Survive and Thrive under Hypercompetition: An Exploratory Analysis of the Influence of Strategic Purity on Truckload Motor-Carrier Financial Performance,” was published in the Winter 2017 issue (vol. 56, no. 1). The study examines how carriers can maintain sustained success in the highly competitive truckload industry. The authors employ an econometric approach to investigate the relationship between a popular industry metric, the trailer-to-tractor ratio (T2T), and carrier performance by using the data of 828 firms. Their empirical results suggest that T2T can be used as a guide for carriers to align their competitive strategy with asset configuration. In addition to the Best Paper Awards, we acknowledged the service and contribution of a reviewer. The recipient of the Outstanding Reviewer Award this year was Dr. Kevin Henrickson, Professor of Economics and Chair of Environmental Studies at Gonzaga University. Kevin has been a long-standing and valuable reviewer for TJ for a broad array of papers utilizing both qualitative and quantitative techniques. He provides timely, Transportation Journal, Vol. 57, No. 1, 2018 Copyright © 2018 The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA iv / TRANSPORTATION JOURNAL™ comprehensive, and robust reviews for authors with the ultimate aim of improvingthequalityoftheirresearch.Kevin’sservicetoTJis­commendable and we recognize it formally through this award. Congratulating the award winners is a great segue to the special issue call for papers that follows this introduction. We are excited to have Dr.JohnBellandDr.StanGriffisserveasguesteditorsforthethemedWinter 2019 issue that will focus on future transportation challenges and solutions with an emphasis on last-mile delivery. We encourage you to ­ submit your research on this topic to TJ for the special issue. ...