The present paper aims to provide insights into freight operators’ attitudes with differentiated charges
and their opinions about charges’ effectiveness and future behavioural responses. Thereby, we investigate
whether motivational factors, particularly acceptability towards road charges, play an important role on
future behavioural adaptations according to charging schemes. Interview surveys have been conducted
and have focused on freight operators and road hauliers’ perception and attitudes towards differentiated
transport charges and several aspects of differentiation. Results show that a global index of acceptability
of differentiation elements is particularly strongly correlated to the likelihood of future behavioural
changes in medium terms as well as in long terms. These findings indicate that positive attitudes towards
differentiated prices are also in the freight sector relevant for prospective success and effectiveness of
pricing measures. Differences in likelihood of behavioural responses between several time horizons imply
that effects of differentiated pricing in the freight operator sector affect behaviour more in the long run
than in short term. Further findings show that the attitudes of the surveyed freight companies towards
various elements of differentiation differ. Results suggest that differentiation elements which relate to
changes at vehicle side are rated as more acceptable than differentiation elements which refer to concrete
behavioural changes.
