Service level, cost and environmental optimization of collaborative transportation. (February 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chabot, Thomas; Bouchard, Florence; Legault-Michaud, Ariane; Renaud, Jacques; Coelho, Leandro C.
• Is Part Of: Transportation research. Volume 110(2018)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 14
• Publication Date: 2018-02
• Subjects: Collaborative transportation -- Routing -- Greenhouse gas -- Optimization -- Less than truckload -- Logistics; Logistics -- Periodicals; Transportation -- Periodicals; 388.011
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tre.2017.11.008
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1366-5545

Abstract

Highlights: We study collaboration issues among shippers. We propose four collaborative schemes aimes at different stakeholders. Exact and heuristic methods are presented for each scheme. We offer a new set of benchmark instances. We show that large benefits (financial and environmental) can be obtained with a very small impact on the service level. Abstract: Less than truckload is an important type of road-based transportation. Based on real data and on a collaboration with industry, we show that a collaborative approach between companies offers important benefits. We propose to develop partnerships between shipping companies and to synchronize their shipments. Four operational collaborative schemes with different objectives are developed. The first one focuses on minimizing shipping costs for shippers. The second and third ones minimize the carrier's costs and the environmental cost, respectively. The fourth one is a combination of all three. The results of our computational experiments demonstrate that collaboration lead to significant cost reductions.