Egypt, along with other countries in the world, is going through an economic
transition from state control to a more market orientated economy. As part of this
process, road freight transport is undergoing a process of privatisation and
deregulation. There are many possible approaches which can be adopted, depending
somewhat on the desired outcome of the process and economic philosophy of the
country. Many countries have already gone through the processes of road freight
privatisation and deregulation; some much more recently (Hungary) than others (the
UK). At this early stage of road freight privatisation in Egypt, it is important and
valuable to the policy maker to identify alternatives available for the privatisation
process, problems it may be facing, as well as its impact on the road freight industry.
Using a qualitative approach, this research attempts to explore the issues relating to
privatisation of the road freight industry in Egypt, in terms of; the impact of
privatisation, the role of freight management, the best method of privatisation,
problems facing privatisation of the road freight industry, and finally treatment of
external costs under privatisation. The overall objective of the research is to
investigate and analyze the structure of the road freight industry, its cost, and how
privatisation of the industry is approached under three different regulatory systems (the
UK, Egypt, and Hungary). This should prove of value to countries in a transitional
stage towards deregulation and privatisation and, in particular, to Egypt. The literature
review is used to develop a conceptual model relating to economies in transition. This
is then transformed into an operational model using the Delphi technique. The Delphi
survey took place in both Egypt and Hungary, with panels comprising; academics,
operators, and governmental officials. The results of the survey show that, unlike
Hungary, there is no lack of available capital to achieve privatisation of road freight
in Egypt, and that awareness of the road freight external cost is higher in Hungary
than in Egypt. But in both countries the resulting increase in unemployment is one of
the most important problem to face privatisation of road freight.the British Counci
