Enabling the freight traffic controller for collaborative multi-drop urban logistics: practical and theoretical challenges

There is increasing interest in how horizontal collaboration between parcel carriers might help alleviate problems associated with last-mile logistics in congested urban centers. Through a detailed review of the literature on parcel logistics pertaining to collaboration, along with practical insights from carriers operating in the United Kingdom, this paper examines the challenges that will be faced in optimizing multicarrier, multidrop collection, and delivery schedules. A “freight traffic controller” (FTC) concept is proposed. The FTC would be a trusted third party, assigned to equitably manage the work allocation between collaborating carriers and the passage of vehicles over the last mile when joint benefits to the parties could be achieved. Creating this FTC concept required a combinatorial optimization approach for evaluation of the many combinations of hub locations, network configuration, and routing options for vehicle or walking to find the true value of each potential collaboration. At the same time, the traffic, social, and environmental impacts of these activities had to be considered. Cooperative game theory is a way to investigate the formation of collaborations (or coalitions), and the analysis used in this study identified a significant shortfall in current applications of this theory to last-mile parcel logistics. Application of theory to urban freight logistics has, thus far, failed to account for critical concerns including (a) the mismatch of vehicle parking locations relative to actual delivery addresses; (b) the combination of deliveries with collections, requests for the latter often being received in real time during the round; and (c) the variability in travel times and route options attributable to traffic and road network conditions

Modeling dry-port-based freight distribution planning

In this paper we review the dry port concept and its outfalls in terms of optimal design and management of freight distribution. Some optimization challenges arising from the presence of dry ports in intermodal freight transport systems are presented and discussed. Then we consider the tactical planning problem of defining the optimal routes and schedules for the fleet of vehicles providing transportation services between the terminals of a dry-port-based intermodal system. An original service network design model based on a mixed integer programming mathematical formulation is proposed to solve the considered problem. An experimental framework built upon realistic instances inspired by regional cases is described and the computational results of the model are presented and discussed

Planification de réseaux hyperconnectés et mutualisés de transport urbain de marchandises

RÉSUMÉ : Les secteurs de la logistique et du transport jouent un rôle essentiel dans les économies modernes, puisqu’ils représentent les différentes possibilités d’amélioration de la compétitivité des pays et ils imposent d’importants défis sociaux et environnementaux. En 2015, les coûts de logistique et de transport ont représenté respectivement 7,85% et 10% des PIB des États-Unis et de l’Union européenne. Pour la même année, ces industries ont contribué pour 5,5% aux émissions mondiales de GES ([Crainic et Montreuil, 2016]; [Fontaine et al., 2017]). Ces résultats découlent des nouvelles tendances du marché et de l’émergence des exigences (urbanisation, commerce électronique, etc.) et des systèmes logistiques et de transport de nature « complexe » (par exemple, plusieurs acteurs ayant différents objectifs, incertitudes, etc.). Pour faire face aux problèmes mentionnés, les réorganisations des systèmes logistiques et du transport actuels doivent encore être étudiées, planifiées, testées et évaluées. Au cours des dernières années, les cadres théoriques de la logistique urbaine (CL) et de l’Internet Physique (PI) ont pris de l’ampleur dans le monde de la recherche scientifique. L’objectif principal de la Logistique Urbaine est de réduire les impacts négatifs des mouvements de véhicules de fret en termes de congestion, de mobilité et d’impacts environnementaux, sans pénaliser les différentes activités sociales et économiques ([Taniguchi et Thompson, 2002]; [Taniguchi, 2014]). Plus précisément, il vise, tout d’abord, à réduire et contrôler la présence de véhicules de fret dans les zones urbaines. Deuxièmement, améliorer l’efficacité des mouvements de marchandises et réduire les impacts sur l’environnement, notamment en minimisant le trafic à vide des véhicules de fret sur les routes urbaines ([Benjelloun et Crainic, 2008]; [Dablanc, 2007]). L’Internet Physique (PI) est un nouveau concept de transport de marchandises et de logistique visant à améliorer l’efficacité économique, environnementale et sociale et la durabilité de la manière dont les objets physiques sont déplacés, stockés, réalisés, fournis et utilisés dans le monde entier ([Montreuil et al., 2013] ; [Montreuil et al., 2012]). Utilisant les mêmes concepts de l’Internet Numérique et de la même manière que les paquets de données transitent dans les réseaux Internet numériques, l’idée de PI est d’acheminer les marchandises encapsulées dans des conteneurs modulaires via un réseau global, interconnecté et ouvert ([Montreuil, 2009]; [Sarraj et al., 2012]). Le concept de PI est de plus en plus présent dans la recherche et les applications récentes qui ont démontré de vrais gains potentiels dans le transport de marchandises interurbain, les chaînes d’approvisionnement et la logistique ([Ballot et al., 2014]; [Sarraj et al., 2014]). Plusieurs concepts tels que la coopération, la consolidation, la manière de mettre en œuvre les activités de transport et de stockage de marchandises, sont des concepts-clés à la fois pour la logistique urbaine et l’Internet physique. Ces systèmes de transport sont complémentaires, puisque la logistique urbaine fournit les derniers segments de la logistique interconnectée et des réseaux de transport Internet physique. Malgré l’importance de ces concepts, [Crainic et Montreuil, 2016] ont affirmé qu’aucune étude n’avait exploré les liens et les synergies entre ces systèmes avancés de transport de marchandises et de logistique. De plus, à notre connaissance, aucune méthode de planification, de modélisation ou d’optimisation n’a été développée pour ce type de réseaux hyperconnectés. On vise à combler ces lacunes en introduisant l’idée des systèmes de la Logistique Urbaine Hyperconnectée et Mutualisée (HCL) "Hyperconnected City Logistics (HCL)". On discute des concepts-clés, des avantages potentiels et des défis en termes de recherches et de développements de la logistique urbaine hyperconnectée. Notre principal problème de recherche est le développement des modèles d’optimisation afin de mettre en place une planification d’un réseau HCL. On évalue les avantages et les enjeux de l’introduction du concept de coopération entre de nombreux acteurs logistiques, en particulier dans le cadre du partage des ressources dans un système de la logistique urbaine hyperconnectée. Dans ce mémoire, on propose des décisions tactiques liées à la conception et à la gestion du réseau de services. Dans notre modèle, on modélise les différents types de ressources, comme la taille des flottes et la capacité des satellites et des centres de distribution. De plus, notre modèle est multimodal puisqu’on considère plusieurs modes de transport comme les camions et les trams. On introduit, également, les concepts de coopération et de partage des ressources à la formulation classique de problème de conception de réseaux. Ce problème consiste à satisfaire la demande, tout en respectant les contraintes et les exigences de la mutualisation et du système HCL. L’objectif vise à minimiser les coûts de sélection et d’exploitation d’un service et les coûts d’affectations de la coalition considérée. Enfin, on effectue une série d’expériences numériques afin d’évaluer, d’une part, la performance du modèle et de l’approche proposée et, d’autre part, l’impact de l’adaptation de l’approche mutualisée et la multimodalité dans les modèles de planification tactique proposés dans le cadre d’un réseau HCL mutualisé. On a conclu que l’approche mutualisée et la multimodalité donnent plus de flexibilité et de meilleurs résultats pour les réseaux HCL. Les solutions obtenues ont validé les modèles de planification et les hypothèses proposés.----------ABSTRACT : Transport and logistics become increasingly important in the development, organization and operation of our society. Recently, the intensity of logistic activities has grown strongly in terms of volume since most of our activities require the movement of people and goods, that must be efficient and at minimum cost. However, these requirements can only be achieved with efficient infrastructure, services and logistics and transport activities. More specifically, the transportation of goods is an important factor for most economic and social activities in urban life [OECD, 2003]. In fact, the transport of goods in the city constitutes from 15% to 20% of all vehicle trips. This complexity is amplified by the increase of population and urbanization. In 2014, 54% of the world’s population was living in urban areas. The [Unies, 2004] are expecting a raise of 66% until 2050 and 85% until 2100 [OECD, 2003]. It results an increase in, both, demands and complexity of the distribution networks have increased. Therfore, ransportation industry becomes a source of various kinds of nuisances such as: noise, congestion, pollution, etc. In order to solve these problems, new paradigms have emerged, we are specifically interested in City Logistics (CL) Physical Internet (PI). The main objective of Urban Logistics is to reduce negative impacts of freight vehicle movements in terms of congestion, mobility and environmental impacts, without penalizing the different social and economic activities ([Taniguchi et Thompson, 2002]; [Taniguchi, 2014]). More specifically, it aims, first of all, to reduce and control the presence of freight vehicles in urban areas. Secondly, to improve the efficiency of goods movements and to reduce environmental impacts, especially by minimizing the empty traffic of freight vehicles in urban roads ([Benjelloun et Crainic, 2008]; [Dablanc, 2007]). The Physical Internet (PI), is a new concept for freight transportation and logistics aiming to improve the economic, environmental and social efficiency and sustainability of the manner that physical objects are moved, stored, realized, supplied and used around the world ([Montreuil et al., 2013]; [Montreuil et al., 2012]). Using the same concepts of the Digital Internet and in the same way that data packets transit in digital Internet networks, the idea of PI is to route goods whitch are encapsulated in modular containers through a global, interconnected and open network ([Montreuil, 2009]; [Sarraj et al., 2012]). The concept of PI is increasingly present in research and recent applications that have demonstrated a real potential gains in interurbain freight transportation, supply chains, and logistics ([Ballot et al., 2014]; [Sarraj et al., 2014]). Several concepts such as cooperation, consolidation, the way of implementing the activities of transport and storage of goods, are key concepts for both City Logistics and Physical Internet. This transport systems are complementary, since City Logistics provides the final segments of interconnected logistics and Physical Internet transportation networks. Despite the importance of these concepts, [Crainic et Montreuil, 2016] have claimed that no study has explored the links and synergies between these advanced systems of freight transport and logistics. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, no planning, modeling or optimization methods have been developed for this type of hyperconnected networks. We aim to fill these gaps by introducing the Hyperconnected Urban Logistic Systems idea "Hyperconnected City Logistics (HCL)". We will discuss key concepts, potential benefits and challenges in term of research and development of the Hyperconnected City Logistics. Our main research problem is the development of optimization models in order to set up an hyperconnected urban network planning. We will propose tactical decisions related to the design and management of the hyperconnected service network. We evaluate how an Hyperconnected City Logistics system can be profitable when introducing the concept of cooperation between many logistic actors especially under the sharing of resources. Further, we model the resources, like feet size and satellite capacity, in our model. We also consider in our problem setting not only trucks but also other transportation mode for example Trams. We, also, introduce a new Integer Programming formulation for the problem. This formulations benefits from the fact that, compared to classical network design formulations, we introduce cooperation and ressouces sharing

A game-theoretic multi-stakeholder model for cost allocation in urban consolidation centres

Recently, many European local authorities have set up Urban Consolidation Centres (UCC) for dealing with challenges arising from the environmental and social impacts of logistical activities in urban contexts through shipment synchronisation and carrier coordination policies. However, the number of successful UCC projects led by local authorities in Europe is low, with most of the UCCs failing to achieve financial sustainability after the initial experimental phase, which is often heavily supported by public funds. In order to propose mechanisms that could favour the economic and financial sustainability of UCC systems, this research develops an adaptation of game-theoretic approaches to the problems of responsibility and cost allocation among stakeholders participating in a UCC delivery network. A solution based on the Shapley Value concept is employed to derive cost allocations; applications of the model to a real-world scenario are evaluated. An extensive sensitivity analysis shows that the proposed cost allocation rules can provide alternative arrangements, based on extended responsibility concepts, which can alleviate the burden on local authorities for the set up of UCCs. As such, results provide useful policy and practice implications on how to safeguard UCCs’ viability under different scenarios, including the outsourcing of the last-mile deliveries

On carriers collaboration in hub location problems

This paper considers a hub location problem where several carriers operate on a shared network to satisfy a given demand represented by a set of commodities. Possible cooperative strategies are studied where carriers can share resources or swap their respective commodities to produce tangible cost savings while fully satisfying the existing demand. Three different collaborative policies are introduced and discussed, and mixed integer programming formulations are provided for each of them. Theoretical analyses are developed in order to assess the potential savings of each model with respect to traditional non-collaborative approaches. An empirical performance comparison on state-of-art sets of instances offers a complementary viewpoint. The influence of several diverse problem parameters on the performance is analyzed to identify those operational settings enabling the highest possible savings for the considered collaborative hub location models. The number of carriers and the number of open hubs have shown to play a key role; depending on the collaborative strategy, savings of up to 50% can be obtained as the number of carriers increases or the number of open hubs decreases

Gemischt-autonome Flotten in der urbanen Logistik

We consider a city logistics application in which a service provider seeks a repeatable plan to transport commodities from distribution centers to satellites. The service provider uses a mixed autonomous fleet that is composed of autonomous vehicles and manually operated vehicles. The autonomous vehicles are only able to travel independently on feasible streets of the heterogeneous infrastructure but elsewhere need to be pulled by manually operated vehicles in platoons. We introduce the service network design problem with mixed autonomous fleets to determine a tactical plan that minimizes the total costs over a medium-term time horizon. The tactical plan determines the size and mix of the fleet, schedules transportation services, and decides on the routing or outsourcing of commodities. We model this problem as an integer program on a time-expanded network and study the impact of different problem characteristics on the solutions. To precisely depict the synchronization requirements of the problem, the time-expanded networks need to consider narrow time intervals. Thus, we develop an exact solution approach based on the dynamic discretization discovery scheme that refines partially time-expanded networks containing only a fraction of the nodes and arcs of the fully time-expanded network. Further methodological contributions of this work include the introduction of valid inequalities, two enhancements that exploit linear relaxations, and a heuristic search space restriction. Computational experiments show that all evaluated variants of the solution approach outperform a commercial solver. For transferring a tactical plan to an operational solution that minimizes the transshipment effort on a given day, we present a post-processing technique that specifically assigns commodities to vehicles and vehicles to platoons. Finally, we solve a case study on a real-world based network resembling the city of Braunschweig, Germany. Analyzing the tactical and operational solutions, we assess the value of using a mixed autonomous fleet and derive practical implications.Wir betrachten eine Anwendung der urbanen Logistik, bei der ein Dienstleister einen wiederholbaren Plan für den Gütertransport von Distributionszentren zu Satelliten anstrebt. Dafür setzt der Dienstleister eine gemischt-autonome Flotte ein, die sich aus autonomen Fahrzeugen und manuell gesteuerten Fahrzeugen zusammensetzt. Die autonomen Fahrzeuge können nur auf bestimmten Straßen der heterogenen Infrastruktur selbstständig fahren, außerhalb dieser müssen sie von manuell gesteuerten Fahrzeugen mittels Platooning gezogen werden. Wir führen das „service network design problem with mixed autonomous fleets“ ein, um einen taktischen Plan zu ermitteln, der die Gesamtkosten über einen mittelfristigen Zeithorizont minimiert. Der taktische Plan bestimmt die Größe und Zusammensetzung der Flotte, legt die Transportdienste fest und entscheidet über das Routing oder das Outsourcing von Gütern. Wir modellieren dieses Problem als ganzzahliges Programm auf einem zeiterweiterten Netzwerk und untersuchen die Auswirkungen verschiedener Problemeigenschaften auf die Lösungen. Um die Synchronisationsanforderungen des Problems präzise darzustellen, müssen die zeiterweiterten Netzwerke kleine Zeitintervalle berücksichtigen. Daher entwickeln wir einen exakten Lösungsansatz, der auf dem Schema des „dynamic discretization discovery“ basiert und partiell zeiterweiterte Netzwerke entwickelt, die nur einen Teil der Knoten und Kanten des vollständig zeiterweiterten Netzwerks enthalten. Weitere methodische Beiträge dieser Dissertation umfassen die Einführung von Valid Inequalities, zweier Erweiterungen, die lineare Relaxationen verwenden, und einer heuristischen Suchraumbegrenzung. Experimente zeigen, dass alle evaluierten Varianten des Lösungsansatzes einen kommerziellen Solver übertreffen. Um einen taktischen Plan in eine operative Lösung zu überführen, die die Umladevorgänge an einem bestimmten Tag minimiert, stellen wir eine Post-Processing-Methode vor, mit der Güter zu Fahrzeugen und Fahrzeuge zu Platoons eindeutig zugeordnet werden. Schließlich lösen wir eine Fallstudie auf einem realitätsnahen Netzwerk, das der Stadt Braunschweig nachempfunden ist. Anhand der taktischen und operativen Lösungen bewerten wir den Nutzen einer gemischt-autonomen Flotte und leiten Implikationen für die Praxis ab

Mixing quantitative and qualitative methods for sustainable transportation in Smart Cities

L'abstract è presente nell'allegato / the abstract is in the attachmen

Modelos de geração de viagens para transporte urbano de mercadorias em cidades históricas: o caso de São João Del Rei / MG.

O transporte urbano de mercadorias é essencial para o desenvolvimento das cidades, ao mesmo tempo em que abastece as atividades comerciais, gera emprego e auxilia no desenvolvimento econômico das áreas urbanas. Entretanto, mesmo sendo de grande importância, a atividade tem sido deixada de lado por muitos planos de mobilidade urbana que, geralmente, têm seu foco voltado para o transporte urbano de passageiros e, de certa forma, negligenciado a importância que o transporte urbano de mercadorias pode exercer na mobilidade e logística urbana como um todo, tanto de pessoas como de mercadorias. Em certas regiões de cidades históricas, devido às restrições de tráfego, da proteção ao patrimônio histórico-cultural, limitações da infraestrutura viária e ao grande crescimento da frota veicular circulando nas áreas urbanas, os problemas enfrentados têm sido ainda maiores. Algumas medidas para amenização desses problemas vêm sendo estudadas no Brasil e em alguns outros países, como EUA, México, Itália, Espanha, Reino Unido e Polônia. No entanto, a literatura encontrada ainda é incipiente e os problemas têm sido cada vez maiores frente à crescente complexidade de distribuição de mercadorias nessas regiões. Faltam estudos principalmente no cenário nacional. Nesse contexto, buscar compreender o processo de distribuição urbana de mercadorias é imprescindível para mensurar os impactos na mobilidade e logística urbana dessas cidades, e desse modo, dar subsídios em forma de informações e análises que possam auxiliar no desenvolvimento de ações e/ou políticas públicas que auxiliem na solução ou amenização dos problemas encontrados. Este estudo tem como objetivo principal, analisar a operação e o impacto das atividades associadas ao transporte urbano de mercadorias de empresas varejistas na mobilidade e logística urbana em uma cidade histórica, tendo o município de São João Del Rei, MG como objeto de estudo. Assim, foram desenvolvidos e aplicados modelos de geração de viagens para quantificar o número de deslocamentos atraídos pelas empresas de varejo da região central da cidade. Os resultados obtidos indicam que o desenvolvimento de modelos de geração de viagens é uma ferramenta que pode auxiliar no planejamento urbano da cidade como na implantação de vagas de carga e descarga e na proposição de medidas de mobilidade urbana, atentando para suas especificidades regionais. Quando comparado aos modelos disponíveis na literatura, esses modelos tendem a dar maior robustez aos resultados e demonstram ser mais adequados, devido a fornecer subsídios aos tomadores de decisão na proposta de políticas públicas que visem maior produtividade do abastecimento de mercadorias na cidade, na ordenação do tráfego, em melhorias da mobilidade urbana, no planejamento municipal, entre outros. Por fim, a comparação entre os modelos aqui propostos e os modelos encontrados na literatura apontam para similaridades e divergências, reforçando a importância do desenvolvimento de modelos locais, mais adequados às especificidades e necessidade de cada região, atentando para diferentes realidades econômicas, sociais e infra estruturais de cada cidade