Outsourcing of trucking activities by relief organisations

This paper analyses the role of outsourcing of trucks in the famine in Ethiopia in 2000. Using a Delphi approach, it takes the opinion of experts in humanitarian aid logistics to assess the potential benefits of outsourcing of the main mode of transport used in developing countries for distributing aid. A detailed review of the literature in outsourcing of trucking and its application to humanitarian aid forms the basis for a series of statements that are presented to the expert panel through the Delphi process. Conclusions are reached that indicate that outsourcing does have major benefits but also some drawbacks that need to be carefully accommodated.