Impact of transport strategies on operational costs: case study of transport section at Kenyatta University

Abstract

Transport management is a function which allows companies which rely on transportation in business to remove or minimize the risks associated with vehicle investment thus improving efficiency, productivity and reducing their overall transportation and staff costs and providing 100 percent compliance with government legislation. Transport management entails trip scheduling. vehicle repair and maintenance, fuel management and allocation of duties to drivers. The research approach adopted is a case study of Kenyatta University (KU) transport section. The main objective of the study was to evaluate transport management with specific objective being evaluation of adopted transport strategies and determining the impact of these strategies on operational cost. The study was guided by five major strategies in the transport sector which are outsourcing of transport services, fuel management, vehicle maintenance, vehicle sharing and use of navigation assistance. The study, being a case drew its major respondents from the transport section. School administrators were also used to augment information gathered from transport section respondents. The study also used secondary data to find the actual transport operational cost. Data collected from the questionnaires was analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis for the qualitative narrations. Findings of this study provided evidence that transport strategies adopted by KU transport section were the major reason for high operation costs. The specific objectives were to evaluate strategies adopted by KU and their impact on operational costs. The study showed that strategies adopted increased inefficient use of resources by increasing Kilometers (km) covered and increased irresponsible driving among drivers which increased the cost of vehicle maintenance, fuel consumption and consequently the cost of operations. This study recommends that transport section should adopt strategies that enhance efficiency and effective use of resources that considerably reduce operational costs.