OPTIMIZATION OF RAILWAY TRANSPORTATION HAZMATS AND REGULAR COMMODITIES

Transportation of dangerous goods has been receiving more attention in the realm of academic and scientific research during the last few decades as countries have been increasingly becoming industrialized throughout the world, thereby making Hazmats an integral part of our life style. However, the number of scholarly articles in this field is not as many as those of other areas in SCM. Considering the low-probability-and-high-consequence (LPHC) essence of transportation of Hazmats, on the one hand, and immense volume of shipments accounting for more than hundred tons in North America and Europe, on the other, we can safely state that the number of scholarly articles and dissertations have not been proportional to the significance of the subject of interest. On this ground, we conducted our research to contribute towards further developing the domain of Hazmats transportation, and sustainable supply chain management (SSCM), in general terms. Transportation of Hazmats, from logistical standpoint, may include all modes of transport via air, marine, road and rail, as well as intermodal transportation systems. Although road shipment is predominant in most of the literature, railway transportation of Hazmats has proven to be a potentially significant means of transporting dangerous goods with respect to both economies of scale and risk of transportation; these factors, have not just given rise to more thoroughly investigation of intermodal transportation of Hazmats using road and rail networks, but has encouraged the competition between rail and road companies which may indeed have some inherent advantages compared to the other medium due to their infrastructural and technological backgrounds. Truck shipment has ostensibly proven to be providing more flexibility; trains, per contra, provide more reliability in terms of transport risk for conveying Hazmats in bulks. In this thesis, in consonance with the aforementioned motivation, we provide an introduction into the hazardous commodities shipment through rail network in the first chapter of the thesis. Providing relevant statistics on the volume of Hazmat goods, number of accidents, rate of incidents, and rate of fatalities and injuries due to the incidents involving Hazmats, will shed light onto the significance of the topic under study. As well, we review the most pertinent articles while putting more emphasis on the state-of-the-art papers, in chapter two. Following the discussion in chapter 3 and looking at the problem from carrier company’s perspective, a mixed integer quadratically constraint problem (MIQCP) is developed which seeks for the minimization of transportation cost under a set of constraints including those associating with Hazmats. Due to the complexity of the problem, the risk function has been piecewise linearized using a set of auxiliary variables, thereby resulting in an MIP problem. Further, considering the interests of both carrier companies and regulatory agencies, which are minimization of cost and risk, respectively, a multiobjective MINLP model is developed, which has been reduced to an MILP through piecewise linearization of the risk term in the objective function. For both single-objective and multiobjective formulations, model variants with bifurcated and nonbifurcated flows have been presented. Then, in chapter 4, we carry out experiments considering two main cases where the first case presents smaller instances of the problem and the second case focuses on a larger instance of the problem. Eventually, in chapter five, we conclude the dissertation with a summary of the overall discussion as well as presenting some comments on avenues of future work

Tactical block planning for intermodal rail transportation

Le mémoire présente le problème de la planification tactique des “blocks” pour le transport ferroviaire intermodal, qui a été peu étudié jusqu’à présent. Nous proposons un nouveau modèle de design de réseau en tenant compte de la spécificité du transport intermodal. La recherche se concentre sur le contexte nord-américain et fait suite à une étroite collaboration avec l’une des principales compagnies ferroviaires nord-américaines. Le “blocking” constitue une importante opération de transport ferroviaire de marchandises, par laquelle des wagons d’origines et de destinations potentiellement différentes sont regroupés pour être d´eplacés et manipulés comme une seule unité, ce qui permet des économies d’échelle. La littérature se limite aux travaux traitant le problème classique du blocage des trains, où la demande est exprimée en termes de wagons. A notre connaissance, aucun travail préalable n’a été consacrè à un contexte de transport intermodal, où la demande est exprimée en termes de conteneurs à dèplacer d’un terminal d’origine donné vers un terminal de destination donné, introduisant ainsi un processus de consolidation supplémentaire. Nous proposons un modèle de “blocking” qui prend en compte plusieurs types de conteneurs et wagons, intégrant l’affectation conteneur-wagon. Nous présentons un nouveau modèle de design de réseau à trois couches en temps continu formulé sous la forme d’un programme linéaire mixte en nombres entiers (MILP), dans le but de minimiser le coût total de transport composé par la sélection de blocs, les coûts d’exploitation et la gestion du coût de la demande. Le modèle peut être résolu en utilisant un solveur commercial pour des tailles réalistes. Nous illustrons les performances et l’intérêt de la méthode proposée à travers une étude de cas approfondie d’un important chemin de fer nord-américain.The thesis presents the tactical block-planning problem for intermodal railroads, which has been little studied so far. We propose a new block service network design model considering the specificity of intermodal rail. The research focuses on the North American context and follows a close collaboration with one of the major North American railroad companies. Blocking constitutes an important rail freight transport operation, by which cars with potentially different origins and destinations are grouped to be moved and handled as a single unit, yielding economies of scale. The literature is limited to works addressing the classical train blocking problem, where demand is given in terms of cars to be blocked among specific OD pairs. To the best of our knowledge, no prior work has been dedicated to an intermodal transportation context, where demand is expressed in terms of containers to be moved from a given origin terminal to a given destination terminal, hence introducing an additional consolidation process. We propose a blocking model that considers several types of containers and railcars, integrating the container-to-car assignment. We present a new continuous-time, three-layer service network design model formulated as a Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP), with the objective of minimizing the total transportation cost composed by block selection, operation costs, and handling demand cost. The model can be solved using commercial solver for realistic sizes. We illustrate the performance and interest of the proposed method through an extensive case study of a major North American railroad

Transportation, Terrorism and Crime: Deterrence, Disruption and Resilience

Abstract: Terrorists likely have adopted vehicle ramming as a tactic because it can be carried out by an individual (or “lone wolf terrorist”), and because the skills required are minimal (e.g. the ability to drive a car and determine locations for creating maximum carnage). Studies of terrorist activities against transportation assets have been conducted to help law enforcement agencies prepare their communities, create mitigation measures, conduct effective surveillance and respond quickly to attacks. This study reviews current research on terrorist tactics against transportation assets, with an emphasis on vehicle ramming attacks. It evaluates some of the current attack strategies, and the possible mitigation or response tactics that may be effective in deterring attacks or saving lives in the event of an attack. It includes case studies that can be used as educational tools for understanding terrorist methodologies, as well as ordinary emergencies that might become a terrorist’s blueprint

Analysis of the risks related to the logistics of the Hazardous Materials

Today, the number of industrial enterprises producing, using, storing and transporting hazardous materials is constantly increasing worldwide. This growth is linked to the progressive demand in various sectors, which makes our world riskier because of the nature and diversity of the dangerous events that may occur. The risks incurred by the hazardous materials transport activity, in case of the occurrence of an incident that may occur and have serious consequences for persons, the environment, property, a fire as an example accompanied by a release of toxic smoke, pollution of the soil and / or water, it can lead in case of non-control of the fire or the reactivity of the goods transported to an explosion. To this purpose, it is essential to protect the health and safety of personnel and to preserve the environment from any deterioration related to the risks incurred by the Transport of Dangerous Goods (TDG) business, which presents important issues for population, state and highly urbanized areas The aim of this thesis is to propose a systemic approach to risk assessment, taking into account in a global way the risks related to hazardous materials throughout the logistics chain (transport & storage). The approach consists of using the modeling and simulation techniques of an accident, to understand the consequences generated in the various scenarios in the event of the occurrence of a hazardous materials accident. This approach will allow the presentation of an industrial safety reasoning method based on actual case studies, rather than a detailed analysis of how to prevent and protect a given hazard. In the process of assessing the technological risks associated with the Transport of Dangerous Goods (TDG), the essential step is the evaluation of the risk intensity when an accidental event occurs, which is to quantify the risks involved. effects or impacts, in order to respond quickly and prioritize relief actions for the protection of the population and the environment. The assessment of the intensity of a technological risk can be carried out using an effects model, capable of estimating the effects induced by the hazardous phenomenon from a quantitative point of view, in order to determine the geographical area of the hazard where the intensity of the risk is deemed too high. In this context, the first issue addressed in this thesis is to assess the level of risk of hazardous goods transport areas for both road and marine modes of transportation, while the second issue of assessing risks in an industrial facility fixed

The load planning problem for double-stack intermodal trains

Les trains qui transportent des conteneurs empilés (en deux niveaux) sont un élément important du reseau de transport nord-americain. Le probleme de chargement des wagons correspond un probleme operationnel d'utilisation rencontre dans les terminaux ferroviaires. Elle consiste optimiser l’affectation des conteneurs des emplacements spécifiques sur les wagons. Ce mémoire est centré sur un article scientifique traitant le chargement optimal publié dans le Journal Européen de Recherche Opérationnelle (Volume 267, Numéro 1, Pages 107-119, 2018). Nous avons formule un modele lineaire en nombres entiers (ILP) et apporte un certain nombre de contributions. Premierement, nous avons proposé une méthodologie générale qui peut traiter des wagons double ou simple empilement avec des «patrons» de chargement arbitraires. Les les patrons tiennent un compte des dépendances de chargement entre les plateformes sur un wagon donne. Deuxiemement, nous avons modéliser les restrictions du centre de gravité (COG), les regles d’empilement et un nombre de restrictions techniques de chargement associees certains types de conteneurs et / ou de marchandises. Les resultats montrent que nous pouvons resoudre des instances de taille realiste dans un d´elai raisonnable en utilisant un solveur ILP commercial et nous illustrons que le fait de ne pas tenir compte de la correspondance conteneurs-wagons ainsi que des restrictions COG peut conduire une surestimation de la capacité disponible.Double-stack trains are an important component of the railroad transport network for containerized cargo in specific markets such as North America. The load planning problem embodies an operational problem commonly faced in rail terminals by operators. It consists in optimizing the assignment of containers to specific locations on the train. The work in this thesis is centered around a scientific paper on the optimization on load planning problem for double stack-trains, published in the European Journal of Operation Research (Volume 267, Issue 1, Pages 1-398) on 16 May 2018. In the paper, we formulated an ILP model and made a number of contributions. First, we proposed a general methodology that can deal with double- or single-stack railcars with arbitrary loading patterns. The patterns account for loading dependencies between the platforms on a given railcar. Second, we modeled Center of gravity (COG) restrictions, stacking rules and a number of technical loading restrictions associated with certain types of containers and/or goods. Results show that we can solve realistic size instances in reasonable time using a commercial ILP solver and we illustrate that failing to account for containers-to-cars matching as well as COG restrictions may lead to an overestimation of the available train capacity

Intermodal transportation of hazardous materials with supplier selection : application in Turkey

Ankara : The Department of Industrial Engineering and the Graduate School of Engineering and Science of Bilkent University, 2011.Thesis (Master's) -- Bilkent University, 2011.Includes bibliographical references leaves 81-84.Fuel transportation constitutes a significant portion of hazardous materials transportation for decades. Fuel companies generally prefer highway transportation whereas railway transportation is also a potential alternative due to its advantages both from cost- and risk perspectives. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the potential benefits of using railways in conjunction to highways for fuel transportation in Turkey. In this thesis, we first investigate a quantitative risk model that could be used to assess the risk of railway transportation. Then, a mathematical model is developed which aims to answer the following three questions: What should be the routes of fuel products transported from suppliers to demand points and which transportation mode(s) should be used on these routes?, Where to open transfer units?, and Which suppliers should satisfy which demand points with what capacity?. The model has two possibly conflicting objectives of minimizing the total transportation risk and minimizing the total transportation cost. The proposed models are tested over Turkish network for which all required realistic data are collected.Elaldı, PelinM.S

Principles of the Feedback Action in Local Elements of Rail Yard Interaction

Achievement of high-quality servicing level of cargo owners should be carried out under unconditionally effective use of rolling stock of railways and technical means. The real transport process should be implemented based on logistic cargo supply chains by types of con-nections for each shipment. The practice of railway operation shows that there is a significant shortage of train locomotives as a result of which the departure of ready trains at rail yard is often not carried out. In such cases, a feedback effect in local elements of interaction of these stations occurs. Due to delay in departure of trains, sending of already formed trains from rail yards is delayed; furthermore, be-cause of the overflow of rail yard tracks, the sorting process on marshalling humps can be slowed down and delay of prepared trains for dismantling at arrival yard may occur. As a result of feedback action, downtimes of rail cars are increasing and movement of inventories is slowing down. In order to mitigate feedbacks effects in local elements of interaction, the principles of their operation, consideration of which will enable acceleration in passage of the rail car and cargo traffic through the railway network in practical activity, were formu-lated

UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE LOGISTICS: UTILIZING NETWORKED NON-STANDARD APPROACHES AND DECEPTION

Throughout history, many military campaigns, conventional or irregular, have failed when they were not well supported logistically. “ARSOF 2022,” written by Charles Cleveland and appearing in the spring 2013 issue of Special Warfare, states that United States Army Special Operations Forces will be the lead component to conduct unconventional warfare (UW) in the future. However, a 2013 RAND Arroyo Center study, Non-Standard Logistics Support for Unconventional Warfare: Sourcebook for Planning and Capability Development, written by Matthew E Boyer et al. on “non-standard logistics” identified significant gaps in existing doctrine, authorities, training, and other areas that support such operations. While providing recommendations, RAND did not provide specific solutions to the shortcomings. This thesis proposes a general model to conduct UW resupply, and operationalizes this model in the form of a UW logistics planning and execution cycle. The six-step cycle (RANDOM), begins with receipt of mission (R). Next, a multi-categorical UW logistics feasibility assessment (A) occurs. Following this assessment, a non-standard (N) resupply approach is chosen, and a supporting military deception plan (D) is incorporated into the approach. The resupply operation (O) is then executed, and feedback from various sources allows modifications (M) and improvements to the cycle for future resupply operations. This thesis concludes with recommendations for leaders and planners alike and offers a solution to the current lack of existing doctrine surrounding this topic.Major, United States ArmyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

A Study on Routing and Scheduling of Hazardous Materials in Railway Transportation

Railway transportation of hazardous materials including Toxic Inhalation Hazard, is crucial to North American economy. Although railway companies have favorable safety records in moving hazardous materials shipments, the possibility of spectacular events resulting from multicars incidents, however low, does exist, and the consequence can be potentially catastrophic in multiple fatalities. The rail disaster in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, resulted in 47 fatalities and around $1.5 billion damages in 2013, is an example of low-probability high-consequence event. In this dissertation we aim at the development of analytical approaches considering the risk associated with hazardous materials in railway transportation. We study three versions of trip plan problems in the presence of hazardous materials, denoted as hazardous materials trip plan problems. In the first part of this dissertation we incorporate the blocking and train makeup decisions into the hazardous materials trip plan generation process, while limiting the total population exposures and environmental damages below the given thresholds. In evaluating the risk, we use aggregate measures, i.e., population exposures and environmental damages. We propose a non-linear mixed integer programming formulation for the considered problem. The solution of the model is NP hard. In order to solve realistic size problem instances, a heuristic method is proposed by decomposing the problem into freight-to-block and block-to-train assignment problems. We then investigate more realistic hazardous materials trip plan problems by relaxing some of the assumptions. In the second part of this dissertation we incorporate risk-spreading functions into trip plan generation process and train scheduling decisions. For each risk spreading function, we present a mathematical formulation and then we design a heuristic method to solve realistic size problem instances. We continue this study by introducing joint hazardous material trip plan and pricing problems. We also relax the assumption of the information of the customer requests are known in advance. Accordingly, we introduce different categories of customers with the definition of specific treatment for each of them including accept/reject basis and particular delivery and price regulations. In particular, we grouped customer requests into two classes as follows: (a) traditional customers, who sign long term contracts with the carrier, must be fulfilled by the carrier’s own services, and their delivery and price quotations are set in advance and not subject to change; and (b) irregular customers, who make request for a carload moves less frequently and on an irregular basis, maybe outsourced/rejected because of (1) lack of train capacities, (2) additional risk exceeds the given risk thresholds, or (3) service level requirements. We propose two-phase heuristic to solve the considered problem. In the first phase, we solve a deterministic transportation planning and train timetabling problem for the known demands in advance. In the second phase, an optimization-based problem is built and solved at the arrival of the new request. Eventually, the dissertation ends with conclusion and further research recommendations

Exercise Handbook: What Transportation Security and Emergency Preparedness Leaders Need to Know to Improve Emergency Preparedness, MTI Report 12-08

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has provided extensive general guidance on developing training and exercise programs for public entities, but little had been done to focus that material on the transportation sector specifically. Transportation sector emergency managers have noted that there should be specific guidance for developing exercises that are focused on the operational work of their agencies, in addition to the Logistics Section functions that are usually the focus of transportation sector entities in multi-agency, multi-jurisdiction exercises. The first section of his report provides information on federal training and exercise requirements for transportation sector entities. It summarizes the changes to emergency management programs and requirements that grew out of the Presidential Policy Directive-8 (PPD-8) issuance in early 2011, and the challenges of adult training. The second section is a Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP)-compliant practical handbook using the project management approach that guides transportation sector staff in the creation, development, implementation and wrap-up of federally mandated exercises. It includes scenarios and implementation guidance based on the actual experiences and work of the transportation sector