In recent years, due to the inadequacies associated with rail transport provision in the country,
many firms in South Africa have been making use of road transport as an alternative to rail
transport to move freight. The shortage of investment in rolling stock over many decades, which
has only recently been reversed, has had a significant impact on rail service delivery (Havenga &
Pienaar 2012). Due to the different service and cost characteristics associated with rail and road
transport, mode selection has an impact on the total logistics costs of a firm. The impact will vary
from industry to industry, due to the inherent different service and costs implications.