Evaluation of ICD's selection criteria: perspectives of senior managers in shipping lines and freight forwarding companies using Port of Colombo

The paper identifies the significance of Inland Container Depots (ICD) facilities, criteria for selecting ICDs by customers and presents an AHP model for assessing the selection criteria with the purpose of evaluating alternative ICDs. The AHP technique has been used for multi-criteria decision making for the judgments of senior managers attached to shipping lines and freight forwarding companies as the major customers of ICDs. Empirical data were collected through in-personal interviews. The research evaluates six main ICD’s selection criteria and nineteen sub criteria of three competitive ICDs which constitute the AHP alternatives. The criteria are identified and their performances were compared for the purpose of selecting the best service provider. The research proposes a solution for the ICD selection issue as a useful reference with a unique model which enables a visualisation of the impact of criteria for selecting the best ICD. In descending order of importance the model suggests that Cost, Reliability, Security, Location, Flexibility and convenience are influenced for the selection of ICD. The identification of the core decision criteria found in this research is useful for both ICD operators and customers to fine-tune their businesses.