The circular economy is an economic model in which design, production, and service activities aim to extend the life of materials and eliminate negative environmental impacts. The transition to a circular economy is a great opportunity for sustainable development to achieve socio-economic and environmental goals and respond to climate change. For the logistics and transportation sector, promoting the demand for goods transported using low-emission modes of transport is also one solution that contributes to the common goal of sustainable development, especially in developing countries such as Vietnam. This study focuses on clarifying the criteria that make people in Ho Chi Minh City (the largest city and an important transport hub in Vietnam) choose inter-provincial freight transport services by road, a mode of transport that is considered to cause a relatively high emission rate. From there, these criteria will serve as the basis for proposing service improvement options for other low-emission modes of transport, thereby providing people with a variety of options for deciding to use inter-provincial freight transport services. The study was conducted using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis to identify the five most important factors affecting the ability to choose inter-provincial freight services in Ho Chi Minh City, which are, respectively, convenience in delivery and receipt of goods, service provider reliability, supplier selection habits, the reduction of pressure on resource depletion and environmental pollution, and service delivery speed.

Theoretical contributions

The circular economy is increasingly attracting the attention of academia, industry, and economic and social development strategists. The transition from a linear economy to a circular economy requires changes from the micro to the macro level. This study has explored and identified the core criteria that promote people's choice of transportation mode in Ho Chi Minh City when inter-provincial transportation is implemented in the context of promoting the development of the circular economy. As a result, the five most important factors affecting the ability to choose intercity freight services in Ho Chi Minh City identified, ranked in order of decreasing priority, are convenience in delivery and receipt of goods, service provider reliability, supplier selection habits, the reduction of pressure on resource depletion and environmental pollution, and service delivery speed.

Managerial contributions

Based on the aspect of promoting circular economic development, the governance implications are mainly aimed at two main subjects: the government and transportation service providers. With five important criteria identified from the research results, the authors have proposed managerial implications related to promoting the development of a circular economy through activities related to inter-provincial freight transport services. The proposed solutions aim to reshape the way freight transport services operate to stimulate people's demand, thereby making recommendations to the government on reforming investment in multimodal transport activities.

Enterprises should focus on improving service frequency, service capacity, and journey speed, changing and improving service delivery networks, building close links between parties involved in the freight transport flow, and integrating information management systems to ensure seamless information flow in the supply chain. Integrating technology into the freight transport route will become an important factor in determining enterprises' competitiveness as the 4.0 industrial revolution develops. The government will need to develop policies for businesses to create a nationwide transportation network proactively. At the same time, documents guiding how to deploy the service and favorable macroeconomic conditions for businesses to boldly form this type of service will be needed.

Methodology

The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is one of the multi-objective decision-making methods proposed by Thomas L. Saaty. AHP is a quantitative method used to evaluate the priority or importance of decision alternatives. It allows clear visibility of the evaluation criteria and their associated attributes and allows the researcher to obtain evaluation data to analyze the relative importance levels. The application of AHP in this study has contributed to providing evaluation perspectives for criteria to help determine optimal inter-provincial freight transport services.