We develop an aerodynamic loading assignment model for intermodal freight trains based on an integer-programming framework to help terminal managers make up more fuel-efficient trains. This is the first use of optimization modeling to address the aerodynamics and energy efficiency of railroad intermodal trains. Several recommendations regarding railway equipment use, operations, and policy are ...

Freight transportation has long been recognized as an important foundation of economic strength. Previous studies use traditional methods to examine a set of scenarios. However, due to the complexity of transportation projects which can have substitution effects in a network the number of resulting scenarios may be more than can be examined on a case by case basis. In this paper, a sequential s...

In freight consolidation, a “fair” cost allocation scheme is critical for forming and sustaining horizontal cooperation that leads to reduced transportation cost. We study a cost-sharing problem in a freight consolidation system with one consolidation center and a common destination. In particular, we design a mechanism that collects bids from a set of suppliers, and then decides whose demand t...

A well-functioning freight transportation system is an essential element in any successful economy. However, at the beginning of the new millennium, the prediction is that the demand for goods movement will outstrip the rate of improvements to the physical infrastructure. Marked growth in time-sensitive freight markets will tax demands on a system that already is operating near capacity in some...

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 ...

The major driving forces behind the establishment of intermodal facilities include number of jobs that will be created by the facility, freight performance improvement, and other economic benefits to the region. Job creation is the most tangible benefit that stakeholders use to justify the development of such facilities. This project explores different job creation factors for intermodal facili...

In order to improve the operational efficiency of small and mid-sized freight carriers, collaborative transportation planning (CTP) approaches enabling an exchange of customer requests are proposed for horizontal carrier coalitions. Through request exchange carriers can further reduce their costs of fulfilling customer requests compared to the case of isolated planning in which no request is ex...

In this paper, we develop a freight transportation model for railway network considering hazmat transportation issue. In the transportation system considered, different customers can request for carrying hazmat and non- hazmat boxes. It is assumed that the sequence of the trains in the network is known. The objective is assigning the non-hazmat boxes and hazmat boxes to wagons of the trains so ...

In order to improve profitability, freight forwarding companies try to organize their operational transportation planning systematically, considering not only their own fleet but also external resources. Such external resources include vehicles from closely related subcontractors, autonomous common carriers on the transportation market, and cooperating partners in horizontal coalitions. In this...

The geography of freight transportation evolves at various scales, but it is increasingly acknowledged that freight flows occurring at the local level are a result of global and regional economic processes. Internationally, distribution networks have expanded, namely through the division of production, manufacturing and consumption. This has been accompanied by a growth of the quantity of freig...