Importance of Planning for the Transport Stage in Procurement of Construction Materials

The use of logistics milestones, as predecessors for construction works, is gaining popularity to improve the control over the material procurement stage and minimize the risks of delay in the project completion resulting from late material deliveries. Transportation is an important phase in the procurement process which can account for up to 20% of the total project expenditure in some industrial construction projects. However, despite its importance, transportation is usually overlooked when planning the material procurement stage and evaluating the potential risks of delay. This study evaluates the current practices in managing transportation stage of the construction material procurement process and the perception of the industry practitioners about the importance of considering material transportation in project planning using the results of a limited systematic survey. In addition, the importance of transportation in the procurement of construction materials is studied by considering the actual data on shipment of construction materials/components in two industrial projects. Results indicate that material handling procedures adopted in industry are highly disorganized and transportation variables are ineffectively articulated. The results highlight the need for methods to plan, monitor and control the transportation stage as an independent activity in the material’s life cycle. Besides the travelling distance, weight, dimension, mode of transportation, and terms of delivery were identified as the main factors affecting the transportation of the construction materials.