Tactical planning of operations is comprised of a set of interrelated decisions that aim to ensure an optimal allocation and utilization of resources to achieve the economic and customer service goals of the company. Tactical planning is particularly vital for intercity freight carriers that make intensive use of consolidation operations. Railways and less-than-truckload motor carriers are typi...

Very few research efforts have been spent on the coordination of plans and operations of independent carriers in an intermodal transportation chain. The impact of this lack of collaboration and coordination is shown in an accordant scenario and first ideas are presented to overcome this situation following the principles of decentralized planning.

total VKT (2). In developed countries, freight road transport continues to grow at a faster rate than the gross domestic product (3). This growth in commercial vehicle activity is increasing preexisting concerns over the associated negative externalities of urban freight movements. These externalities include greenhouse gases, air pollution, safety, and congestion and have been estimated to be ...