This work sought to explain the complex nature of the principles behind freight costs, focusing on certain dysfunctions and the limited efficiency of freight rate negotiation in the supply chains of the Brazilian agribusiness. Statistical and econometric techniques were used to identify the systematic behavior of the freight rates of the selected products and, where possible, this procedure was allied to other market evidence. It was possible to identify the influence of many variables on freight rates, such as distance, seasonality of production, the corridors along which the cargo is transported, its specific characteristics and the resulting demands made by customers. The fact that distance behaved as an explanatory variable, and was statistically... |