Challenges and Opportunities for the Development of Inland Waterway Transport in Brazil

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The article discusses the challenges and opportunities for inland waterway transportation in Brazil. It identifies the biggest obstacles and potential benefits of utilizing Brazil's navigable rivers for transportation. The research emphasizes the importance of proper planning to significantly contribute to the country's logistics system. The research highlights the significance of various factors related to supply chain management, including income generation, expanding the SCM frontier, coordination challenges, information sharing, bottleneck identification, and opportunity recognition. The paper concludes by emphasizing the need for excellence in logistics management, considering all stakeholders, and merging different organizational departments with logistics.

The study on inland waterway transportation in Brazil aims to make a valuable contribution to the scholarly community, especially in the logistics and supply chain field. It discusses the challenges and benefits associated with using Brazil's rivers for transportation. The research emphasizes how careful planning can improve the country's logistics system and promote sustainable logistics practices. To make your point stronger, it would be helpful to provide more evidence on how using inland water transportation can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Also, including a comparison with other countries' sustainable logistics methods can add more weight to your research. Additionally, please provide more details on why it's crucial for Brazil to enhance its inland water transportation. Providing evidence for the claim that inland water transportation has the lowest cost and is the most sustainable mode of transport would further reinforce your argument.

To improve the figure's readability, please adjust the layout and follow the journal's template for formatting. This will help readers better understand the information presented.

Organizing the information more clearly will make the manuscript easier to read and understand, benefiting readers and contributing positively to the academic community's knowledge in logistics and supply chain management.

Adding a well-structured discussion section, especially discussing your research findings in relation to the work of Vilarinho et al (2019), will enrich the scholarly dialogue and create a more comprehensive understanding in the logistics and supply chain field.

Author Response

Thank you very much for your contributions to enrich our paper. All of their recommendations were met and are highlighted below.

Complying with their recommendations was certainly very important to significantly increase the quality of the research.

Thank you very much!

The article discusses the challenges and opportunities for inland waterway transportation in Brazil. It identifies the biggest obstacles and potential benefits of utilizing Brazil's navigable rivers for transportation. The research emphasizes the importance of proper planning to significantly contribute to the country's logistics system. The research highlights the significance of various factors related to supply chain management, including income generation, expanding the SCM frontier, coordination challenges, information sharing, bottleneck identification, and opportunity recognition. The paper concludes by emphasizing the need for excellence in logistics management, considering all stakeholders, and merging different organizational departments with logistics.

The study on inland waterway transportation in Brazil aims to make a valuable contribution to the scholarly community, especially in the logistics and supply chain field. It discusses the challenges and benefits associated with using Brazil's rivers for transportation. The research emphasizes how careful planning can improve the country's logistics system and promote sustainable logistics practices. To make your point stronger, it would be helpful to provide more evidence on how using inland water transportation can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Also, including a comparison with other countries' sustainable logistics methods can add more weight to your research. Additionally, please provide more details on why it's crucial for Brazil to enhance its inland water transportation. Providing evidence for the claim that inland water transportation has the lowest cost and is the most sustainable mode of transport would further reinforce your argument.

REPLY:  The lower carbon emission by IWT was used as a basis through Brazilian references and articles to justify that the Brazilian logistics system needs to develop, in addition to references about IWT having a lower cost than other modes.

It was presented throughout the text that the Brazilian logistics system needs to develop because Brazilian logistics is high-cost and unsustainable, as trucks are almost exclusively used. This development could be achieved through greater balance in the use of logistics modes, implementation of intermodal terminals, among other needs. That is why it is crucial to use IWT in Brazil, in addition to using rail transport more, which could only happen if there is greater connection between logistics modes in Brazil, which the study showed is a major challenge, in addition to public policies. insufficient waterways and poor waterway infrastructure.

Interviewees reported that IWT is recognized as having the lowest cost, and this information is included as a reference throughout the text, where we use several authors and works, and this information was confirmed based on the results with managers.

To improve the figure's readability, please adjust the layout and follow the journal's template for formatting. This will help readers better understand the information presented.

REPLY: I tried to think of a better way to adjust the figure, but as there is a lot of text to be written inside and I wanted to bring this idea of sequencing (left to right), I couldn't think of a different format. Could you give me some recommendations to improve?

I received feedback stating that the figure was good.

Organizing the information more clearly will make the manuscript easier to read and understand, benefiting readers and contributing positively to the academic community's knowledge in logistics and supply chain management.

Adding a well-structured discussion section, especially discussing your research findings in relation to the work of Vilarinho et al (2019), will enrich the scholarly dialogue and create a more comprehensive understanding in the logistics and supply chain field.

REPLY: I liked this idea about relating the themes of figure 1, I thought about writing an article only analyzing this theoretical evolution of the themes. Thank you very much.

But in this article the objective was really just to analyze the challenges and opportunities faced in the daily life of IWT activity in Brazil, considering the 8 themes.

Relation to Discussion Section, the original research is very extensive, and there was a separate Results and Discussion Section. But in this paper we decided to summarize this research, bringing only what we considered most important. And even so, the article was relatively long. As a strategy to try to reduce the size of the paper, it was decided to combine the Results and Discussion Sections, where we always start by presenting results and then include some discussions, reflections and ideas that can be related to the results presented. In the following paragraph we present other results in text form, and then we promote further discussions, and so on.

We could separate the Results and Discussion Sections into a possible second round of revisions, if you think it would be better, but I am afraid that the article will become even longer.

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The paper identifies the biggest challenges and opportunities faced by Inland Waterway Transportation (IWT) in Brazil. The topic is interesting. I have few comments:

1. It would be appropriate to have insights from your research with the current climate change. This topic is covered superficially in the paper.

2. Can statistical methodologies be applied to the information obtained in interviews? The previous question would strengthen your study through qualitative analysis. Please mention some aspects in relation to this issue.

3. You mention that the findings of your research could be applied in other countries, especially emerging ones. Please mention examples from other emerging countries (with respective references) with similar studies or where your study can be applied.

 

Author Response

Thank you very much for your contributions to enrich our paper. All of their recommendations were met and are highlighted below.

Complying with their recommendations was certainly very important to significantly increase the quality of the research.

Thank you very much!

The paper identifies the biggest challenges and opportunities faced by Inland Waterway Transportation (IWT) in Brazil. The topic is interesting. I have few comments:

1. It would be appropriate to have insights from your research with the current climate change. This topic is covered superficially in the paper.

REPLY: One of the interviewees reported climate change in his region (Sao Francisco Waterway) in the end of 4.1.3.4 section, stating that in his region it has rained less in recent years and this has caused the volume of water to reduce, which harms navigation in the region of this waterway. And responding to the highlighted point, we would like to inform that it was intentional not to enter into discussions on climate change. We consider it to be a very pertinent topic, but in this article, we have included only some information and references about carbon emissions, and we prefer not to delve into climate change, as it is a specific subject.

2. Can statistical methodologies be applied to the information obtained in interviews? The previous question would strengthen your study through qualitative analysis. Please mention some aspects in relation to this issue.

REPLY: The Method was improved, including in the Abstract and also in the method the information that the content analysis methodology was used in the interviews (which was missing). This information was briefly included in the abstract and detailed in the last paragraph of section 3 Material and method. Content analysis is a reliable methodology for qualitative research. This will make the method better understood by readers.

3. You mention that the findings of your research could be applied in other countries, especially emerging ones. Please mention examples from other emerging countries (with respective references) with similar studies or where your study can be applied.

REPLY: Besides Brazil, would be applied in Russia, India, China and South Africa (Bric's), it is known that China is currently more developed, falling between the developed and emerging countries, but there is also Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia, Korea of the South, among others.

I preferred not to include the names of the countries, just generalize to emerging countries. Do you think it would be appropriate to mention these countries in the paper?

With the exception of China, where there is a lot of research on the topic, many of which are even used to support this paper, in other countries, including Brazil, the number of papers is very small or non-existent, as mentioned in the twelfth paragraph of the Theoretical Background Section.

In an analysis throughout the review period of this article, I looked for articles relating IWT and each of the countries mentioned and found very few articles, which do not specifically address what is covered in this paper. In a possible second round of review, I can try to better target and try to find more articles. I'm even going to do that now. Well, I was curious.

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Abstract is not self-explanatory – details about the interview process and data analysis are missing.

Introduction and the theoretical background present in details other studies related to IWT in Brazil and in the world. Nevertheless, the theoretical background fails to clearly point out the hypothesis of the research.

Material and methods present the process of data collection. The authors used interviews with actors from the Brazilian IWT. The number of the interview is verry low. Statistical data describing the inland water transport infrastructure in Brazil is missing (number of ports – active; totally inactive; partially active ports; amount of transported goods etc). The methodology for the qualitative data analysis is not described.

Results section is to long. The authors did not properly synthesize results focusing on the research questions. Table 1 can provide a better understanding of the results, but the rest of the text is too long. Discussion are missing. All in all, a paper that focused on only 8 (+3) interviews with inland waterway ports representatives cannot properly described the main barriers for the Brazilian IWT. A multi-actor interview approach can bring insights both from the shipping and beneficiaries’ companies and the local population.

Author Response

Dear reviewer, thank you very much for your contributions to enrich our paper. Complying with their recommendations was certainly very important to significantly increase the quality of the research.

If you are in Europe or in a developed country, I would like to humbly inform you that in emerging countries the logistics situation is a little different. We have many problems, which is why our article may seem a bit simple, but it is through this type of research that we can contribute to the development of our nation or region, and a little to scholars. I'll give you an example considering your question below: "Statistical data describing the inland water transport infrastructure in Brazil is missing (number of ports – active; totally inactive; partially active ports; amount of transported goods etc).", ANSWER: There is information about investments in waterways in Brazil in the ninth and tenth paragraphs in Section 2 of Theoretical Background, in the fifth paragraph of the Introduction some of the main waterways in Brazil are presented, including their lengths in kilometers of the waterways. I could present them all, but that would make this article even longer, which I know is already quite long. Regarding ports, on the Brazilian government page there is a list of ports and waterways in Brazil, but when I interview the managers, they told me that many of the ports are actually inactive. In the face-to-face interview, for example, I visited the port. It is listed as active, but in fact there are no waterway transport activities in the region, the port facility has administrative public employees, but has no operations at the port. I know it sounds surreal, but this is our situation, and probably the situation of some ports in some emerging countries. And to check which ports are active and which are inactive, I believe I would have to visit each of them in person.

Anyway, in this paper we really focus on analyzing only the challenges and opportunities that IWT faces in Brazil, and which may be similar to those faced in other emerging countries.

Abstract is not self-explanatory – details about the interview process and data analysis are missing.

REPLY: The abstract was improved, and information about the data analysis was briefly included in the abstract and detailed in the last paragraph of section 3 Material and method.

Introduction and the theoretical background present in details other studies related to IWT in Brazil and in the world. Nevertheless, the theoretical background fails to clearly point out the hypothesis of the research.

REPLY: We made some adjustments through this review in the abstract, introduction and method that we believe may be important so that the objective of the work becomes clearer fro readers. We don't analyze hypotheses, we have a study objective, which I adjusted in the Abstract and also at the end of the penultimate paragraph of the Introduction. Which is to understand better the IWT in Brazil to contribute to the improvement of Brazilian logistics system, and perhaps contribute to reflections and analyzes of logistics systems in other countries, especially emerging countries.

In the theoretical background, our desire was to emphasize that logistics models have changed a lot in recent years, mainly through a greater balance in the use of logistics modes, using fewer highways and more railways and waterways. Also informing that using railways, and especially waterways, it is possible to reduce costs and have more sustainable logistical processes. We also inform that society expects logistics models that use more efficient energy sources, with less carbon emissions, and that are more sustainable, faster and cheaper.

We talk about the importance of intermodal terminals and also logistics centers, and the lack of public policies and investments so that IWT in Brazil can develop. And in the end, we emphasize the almost absence of research on IWT in Brazil and South America. We based on these references to provide a basis for the need to analyze how it would be possible to have more efficient logistics systems in Brazil. And we understand that it would be possible analyzing the main challenges and opportunities of the IWT activity in Brazil. And considering that Brazil has significantly different specificities from most other countries, mainly from European countries, this study is like a "step back" in relation to what is studied mainly in Europe, where our objective was to verify how the activity of IWT is currently in Brazil. After verifying what the challenges and opportunities are, it will be possible to carry out research to analyze, for example, how these challenges can be overcome and how these opportunities can be strengthened. And considering that similar issues may be faced in other emerging countries, this study can be at least a reflection in this sense for these other countries, maybe being our scholarly community contribution. Mainly for countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (Bric's), it is known that China is currently more developed, falling between the developed and emerging countries, but there is also Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia, Korea of the South, among others. Thus, we tried to emphasize through the Theoretical Background why Brazil's logistics system must develop, which is to be able to update itself and so that Brazilian products can be more competitive in the international market. Because logistics in Brazil are carried out almost exclusively using trucks, thus, the logistics cost is high and makes products more expensive in the international market, which is making some sales difficult, especially of commodities. This phenomenon is believed to be similar in emerging countries, and therefore we believe that this study may be at least relevant to the field of IWT studies considering IWT in emerging countries.

Material and methods present the process of data collection. The authors used interviews with actors from the Brazilian IWT. The number of the interview is verry low. Statistical data describing the inland water transport infrastructure in Brazil is missing (number of ports – active; totally inactive; partially active ports; amount of transported goods etc). The methodology for the qualitative data analysis is not described.

REPLY: Information about the interview data analysis process was included in the abstract and in the last paragraph of Section 3. Materials and Methods with references.

The small number of interviewees was included in the conclusions (last paragraph) as a limitation of the research.

Without a doubt, if I had been able to interview more people, the analysis could have been a little richer, and it would have been possible to obtain additional information. But I would like to inform that although the number is not large, I believe that the objective of the research was achieved, as even though the interviewees were in different regions of Brazil, some of which are almost 3 thousand kilometers away from each other (Brazil is a large country), even so, the arguments of the majority of interviewees throughout the interviews were similar, with no important arguments of disagreement, for example. This reinforces that even with a smaller number of interviewees, the results are reliable.

Another point is that it is very difficult to interview managers, as it takes a lot of time, and they (managers) avoid this type of approach as their time is precious. And we already expected that we would have few interviewees, but to better understand the object of this study we decided to keep the interviews and explore them as much as possible in depth in order to better understand the IWT in Brazil.

Results section is to long. The authors did not properly synthesize results focusing on the research questions. Table 1 can provide a better understanding of the results, but the rest of the text is too long. Discussion are missing. All in all, a paper that focused on only 8 (+3) interviews with inland waterway ports representatives cannot properly described the main barriers for the Brazilian IWT. A multi-actor interview approach can bring insights both from the shipping and beneficiaries’ companies and the local population.

REPLY: The original research is very extensive, and there was a separate Results and Discussion Section. But in this paper we decided to summarize this research, bringing only what we considered most important. And even so, the article was relatively long. As a strategy to try to reduce the size of the paper, it was decided to combine the Results and Discussion Sections, where we always start by presenting results and then include some discussions, reflections and ideas that can be related to the results. In the following paragraph we present other results in text form, and then we promote further discussions, and so on.

We could separate the Results and Discussion Sections into a possible second round of revisions, if you think it would be better, but I am afraid that the article will become even longer.

Relating Multi-actor approach, thank you for reinforce my idea to examine IWT in Brazil in a more targeted way. The multi-actor that the reviewer mentions can be the approach that I can use for future studies informed in the last paragraph of the conclusion, as I completely agree that the next steps should be important to deepen knowledge about the object of study explored here. I even intend to do this in 2024 based on what I have already researched and what I have read about it.

Reviewer 4 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The article is interesting and covers important topic. The article is written at a good level. I admire the care taken in preparing this publication.

I suggest only some minor corrections:

• The abbreviation IWT should be explained not only in "abstract", but also in "intoduction" with a short description about the history of this organization,

• The acronym ANTAQ should be explained along with a brief description of the history of this agency,

• The abbreviations NGO, NGOs should be explained along with a brief description,

• The term São Francisco Waterway should be written rather in English than in Portuguese,

•Please indicate the research gap in your the research.

 Once my suggestions are taken into account, the article does not need to be sent to me again.

Author Response

Thank you very much for your contributions to enrich our paper. All of their recommendations were met and are highlighted below.

Complying with their recommendations was certainly very important to significantly increase the quality of the research.

Thank you very much!

 

The article is interesting and covers important topic. The article is written at a good level. I admire the care taken in preparing this publication.

I suggest only some minor corrections:

• The abbreviation IWT should be explained not only in "abstract", but also in "intoduction" with a short description about the history of this organization,

REPLY: I explained the abbreviation in the second paragraph of Introduction.

IWT is not an organization, it is the most used term when aiming to address logistics carried out through rivers, that is, through waterways.

• The acronym ANTAQ should be explained along with a brief description of the history of this agency.

REPLY: I have included additional information about ANTAQ in the eleventh paragraph of Section 2. Theoretical Background.

• The abbreviations NGO, NGOs should be explained along with a brief description

REPLY: Corrected throughout the text.

• The term São Francisco Waterway should be written rather in English than in Portuguese.

REPLY: Corrected throughout the text.

• Please indicate the research gap in your the research.

REPY: Included in Abstract, in the second paragraph of introduction, and in the penultimate paragraph of introduction.

 Once my suggestions are taken into account, the article does not need to be sent to me again.