1 DELIVERY SCHEDULE RELIABILITY IN THE INTERNATIONAL CONTAINER LINER SHIPPING SERVICE: IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH Rawindaran Nair, Jane Jing Xu * and Robert Mason Transport and Shipping Research Group, Logistics and Operations Management Section, Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Wales, UK * Corresponding Author: Jane Xu, Aberconway Building, Cardiff Business School, Colum Drive, Cardiff CF10 3EU, UK. Email: XuJJ1@cf.ac.uk 1. INTRODUCTION Schedule reliability has become an area of topical interest following various initiatives by liner shipping companies recently, notably the new “Daily Maersk” policy by Maersk Line, which focuses on guaranteed punctual departures and arrivals. Shippers have demanded schedule reliability for some time in attempts to reduce uncertainties from their international supply chains. This call has seemingly reached a new level as some powers have apparently shifted to the customers of containerized services as volumes have reduced following the global economic problems seen in recent years. In addition, there have been developments in the Rotterdam Rules legal framework covering liner shipping companies operations in connection with schedule integrity (UNCITRAL, 2008) and beyond this in terms of the anti-trust rules on competition introduced on trading to European Union ports from October 2008 (Marlow and Nair, 2008). The paper will assess the principal developments in the container liner shipping sector in relation to schedule integrity, with the purpose of clearly defining what service reliability currently means and establishing the implications and topics for future research in the field. Figure 1: Three of the Determining Entities of Schedule Reliability in the Container Liner Shipping To undertake this study, after a literature review which attempts to clearly define what schedule reliability means in the context of container liner shipping, a structured methodology to system enquiry will be followed (Kettinger, et. al. 1997). This identifies three of the determining entities identified by Mason and Nair (2012) comprising of demand, supply and regulation in the sector (Figure 1). In this paper, a particular focus has been applied to the main arterial trade routes of inter-regional international container shipping. Three of the Determining Entities of Schedule Reliability in Container Liner Shipping THE REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT THE SUPPLY-SIDE STORY THE DEMAND PERSPECTIVE STUDY FOCUS SCHEDULE RELIABILITY – CONTAINER LINER SHIPPING STUDY FOCUS