Fleet sizing for transporters with seasonal demands. (1st January 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Roy, Debjit; Sebastian, Joseph; Sharma, Dheeraj
• Is Part Of: International journal of automation and logistics. Volume 1:Number 1(2013)
• Page Start: 105
• Page End: 115
• Publication Date: 2013-01-01
• Subjects: transportation -- fleet sizing -- Markov-modulated Poisson process -- MMPP -- non-stationary demand; Automation -- Periodicals; Logistics -- Periodicals; Logistics -- Computer programs -- Periodicals; 658.514
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2049-6745

Abstract

We develop a quick and approximate way to address the fleet sizing problem for transporters with non-stationary demands and uncertain trip times. Non-stationary demands are modelled using Markov-modulated Poisson process (MMPP) and the variable fleet size is modelled using multi-server queuing construct [ MMPP (2)/ M / C queue]. The customer service level is expressed by the probability that a customer on arrival waits for availability of trucks. The waiting time probabilities are estimated from the steady-state probabilities, which are obtained from the solution of the continuous-time Markov chain. We demonstrate the fleet-sizing approach for a transporter with two level of demand rates and exponentially distributed truck unavailable times.