Bending the Rules in the Commercial Goods Road Transport Sector

AbstractThis article challenges the core assumptions on behavior within the commercial transport sector. It is often taken for granted that actors intend to follow public regulations and that the authorities’ enforcement of criminal liability is a sufficient measure to ensure the expected behavior. Despite limited access to accident data on root causes, we claim that risk in the transport sector has changed significantly over the past ten years. Professional competence increasingly appears to mean competence in the art of bending rules and regulations. The reasons for this perturbing trend need to be investigated. In this article we restrict our analysis to the elucidation of different categories of rule-bending, in the light of possible rationalities for such behaviors. The study does not aim to present evidence of any breaches of law but is rather an attempt to illustrate issues in a sector that is very difficult to regulate, emphasizing the key forces that influence safety-related aspects of the transport sector. For this purpose we need to address the holistic transport chains in the search for multiple attribute preferences in which safety, economy and power play major roles. Finally, we propose the development of much-needed standards of sound professional practice and reasonable conduct