If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -To provide empirical evidence on the level of savings that can be attained by joint route planning and how these savings depend on specific market characteristics. Design/methodology/approach -Joint route planning is a measure that companies can take to decrease the costs of their distribution activities. Essentially, this can either be achieved through horizontal cooperation or through outsourcing distribution to a logistics service provider. The synergy value is defined as the difference between distribution costs in the original situation where all entities perform their orders individually, and the costs of a system where all orders are collected and route schemes are set up simultaneously to exploit economies of scale. This paper provides estimates of synergy values, both in a constructed benchmark case and in a number of real-world cases.Findings -It turns out that synergy values of 30 per cent are achievable. Furthermore, intuition is developed on how the synergy values depend on characteristics of the distribution problem under consideration. Practical implications -The developed intuition on the nature of synergy values can help practitioners to find suitable combinations of distribution systems, since synergy values can quickly be assessed based on the characteristics of the distribution problem, without solving large and difficult vehicle routing problems. Originality/value -This paper addresses a major impediment to horizontal cooperation: estimating operational savings upfront.

This article presents a broad review of horizontal cooperation in transport and logistics. This topic is fast gaining momentum in the logistics sector and is thus highly relevant from a practical point of view. Moreover, horizontal cooperation is also interesting from a theoretical perspective because it can be approached by various disciplines, offering a forum for economists, operations researchers, and psychologists, among others. The purpose of this article is to provide a starting point for intensified future research on the topic of horizontal cooperation. In addition to a discussion of various types of horizontal cooperation and closely related literature, the drivers, impediments, and facilitators are reviewed and supported by an extensive bibliography.

This article presents a broad review of horizontal cooperation in transport and logistics. This topic is fast gaining momentum in the logistics sector and is thus highly relevant from a practical point of view. Moreover, horizontal cooperation is also interesting from a theoretical perspective because it can be approached by various disciplines, offering a forum for economists, operations researchers, and psychologists, among others. The purpose of this article is to provide a starting point for intensified future research on the topic of horizontal cooperation. In addition to a discussion of various types of horizontal cooperation and closely related literature, the drivers, impediments, and facilitators are reviewed and supported by an extensive bibliography.

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