Congestion Reduction Through Efficient Empty Container Movement Under Stochastic Demand

https://doi.org/10.7922/G2W094642020PDFTech ReportDessouky, Maged M.Carvajal, SantiagoYao, SiyuanMETRANS Transportation Center (Calif.)California. Dept. of Transportation. Division of Research, Innovation, and System InformationUnited States. Department of Transportation. University Transportation Centers (UTC) ProgramNational Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST)California. Department of TransportationUnited StatesContainersDemandEmpty car milesFreight handlingMathematical modelsRoutingSchedulingStochastic processesTraffic assignmentTrucksContainer MovementVehicle RoutingStochastic DemandDouble Container TrucksNCST-USC-RR-20-19Caltrans 65A0686 Task Order 018USDOT Grant 69A3551747114Final Report (December 2018 \u2013 April 2020)In today\u2019s world, there is a significant amount of investigation regarding how to efficiently distribute loaded containers from the ports to the consignees. However, to fully maximize the process and become more environmentally friendly, one should also study how to allocate the empty containers created by these consignees. This is an essential part in the study of container movement since it balances out the load flow at each location. The problem of coordinating the container movement to reuse empty containers and lower truck miles is called the \u201cEmpty Container Problem\u201d. In this work, the authors develop a scheduling assignment for loaded and empty containers that builds on earlier models but incorporates stochastic (random) future demand. Since this problem is meant to be solved daily and the solution implemented today affects tomorrow\u2019s starting state, incorporating future demand is an important aspect. This report shows that the truck miles needed to satisfy the demand at all locations is reduced by about 4-7% when considering future stochastic demand as opposed to only considering today\u2019s demand. Thus, leading to a cleaner and greener solution, creating less congestion and lowering the impact of freight movement on the environment.104