Introduction

This is the time of year for updating information about the Transportation Journal for publication databases. This task, as well as the transition to our new automated manuscript submission system and the publication of our 50th-year anniversary issue last year, prompted some reflection about the editorial objectives of the journal. Our current editorial objectives are quite broad and state that the journal “is devoted to the publication of articles that present new knowledge relating to all sectors of the supply chain/logistics/transportation field.” Several specific areas then follow but are still not all-inclusive. Yet not all transportation-related articles are appropriate for the Transportation Journal. I often receive manuscripts that are in the area of transportation engineering or public transit, in which the research does not demonstrate a relevance to logistics or supply chain management. In many cases, the methodologies are not within the expertise of our review board. Nevertheless, we still have a wide range of topics and methodologies from which to choose.

Sometimes our issues have somewhat of a theme, particularly when we feature conference papers. Because of the diversity of subject matter, our articles span the different modes of transportation, different participants in the supply chain, and specific aspects of the relationship of transportation to the supply chain. This issue features articles on the low-cost airline industry, international transportation, and the motor carrier industry in the United States and Sweden. Also featured is an article on individual publication productivity that should be of interest to the academic audience. We conclude with two book reviews.

In the first article, Suzuki and Dai conduct an empirical analysis that contrasts the effectiveness of the conventional heuristic method and the emerging exact methods used by fuel optimizers in the motor carrier industry. Button presents a conceptual discussion of the business models of the low-cost airline industry. Coleman, Bolumole, and Frankel examine in detail the research productivity patterns of the entire distribution of individual logistics authors. Their study spans a lengthy timeframe and encompasses a relatively large number of journals. In the first Industry Note, Hull outlines the changes taking place in an important intermodal link, the Chicago–East Coast Corridor and suggests opportunities that might benefit intermodal transportation. Lundin and Hedberg analyze different types of contracts used by a large retailer for motor carrier transportation. In his review of Steam Coffin, Davis discusses the somewhat precarious inauguration of steamship service. Sees discusses a book about RFID application in the military from the perspective of one who used the technology in the military.

As mentioned previously, the Transportation Journal now uses an automated system. The website for submission is www.editorialmanager.com/TransJour.

Respectfully,

Evelyn Thomchick

Editor