A study on the service quality components of container shipping

The role of container shipping lines has changed and evolved in recent years. Container shipping lines need to develop new strategies to satisfy their customers because of globalization and increasing requirements of the customers. Nowadays, container lines are required to give more attention to managing relationships with their customers. Container shipping lines need to achieve service excellence by constantly improving their service performance. They should understand what the shippers expect from container shipping services for improving their service performances. Therefore, it is important to determine dimensions and components of container shipping service quality. The main aim of this study is to explore the dimensions of service quality and propose a model for measuring service quality in container shipping. In order to reach this aim a questionnaire was developed based on ROPMIS Model and applied on the freight forwarders in Turkey. As a result of the study, a reliable and valid scale consisting of 6 dimensions with 24 variables was explored for measuring container shipping service quality. Keywords: Service Quality, Container Shipping, Container Shipping Service, Turkey