Mack-Blackwell National Rural Transportation Study Center October Meeting, 2001 John R. English, Ph.D., P.E. Professor and Head, INEG Director, The Logistics.

Mack-Blackwell National Rural Transportation Study Center

October Meeting, 2001

John R. English, Ph.D., P.E.

Professor and Head, INEG

Director, The Logistics Institute TLI

New Projects

3 new projects– Web Ship Cost (Rossetti, Nachtmann)– Impact of Wireless Data Systems on the

Transportation Systems of the Future (Mason, Kutanoglu)

– Training and Course Materials for Transportation Applications of GIS (Rossetti, Cole)

Current Projects 5 active projects

– Efficient Timing of Pickup and Delivery Assignment Decisions (Kutanoglu/Taylor(UL)) 2013

– Determining Optimal Trailer Duty as a Function of Use and Age (Nutter(MEEG)/Cassady) 2017

– Modeling and Analysis of Transportation Flows Created by E-commerce Transactions (Kutanoglu/Cole/Bartolacci(PSU)) 2012

– On-line Benchmarking Database for Transportation Providers (Rossetti/Collins) 2015

– Economic Evaluation of the Impact of Waterways on the State of Arkansas-Phase Two (Nachtmann) 9208

New Projects: INEG

WebShipCost

PI: Manuel D. Rossetti Co-PI: Heather Nachtmann

– RA: Xuan Li– Industry Support: Nucor Steel, Arkansas

Waterways Commission Objective: Addresses the problem of

Arkansas’s and other states’ underutilized waterway transportation networks.

Impact of Wireless Data Systems on the Transportation Systems of the Future

PI: Scott J. Mason Co-PI: Erhan Kutanoglu

– RA: Ghazi Magableh– Industry Support:

Terion, Inc.

Impact of Wireless Data Systems on the Transportation Systems of the Future

Problem: What areas of current transportation systems could directly benefit from the incorporation of wireless data systems in terms of improved operational efficiency, time savings, and cost reduction?

Approach: Survey best practices, then develop models to help quantify benefits of wireless data systems

Objective: Assess current and future transportation applications of wireless data systems

Impact of Wireless Data Systems on the Transportation Systems of the Future

Current Activities– Data gathering and

analysis

– Assessing current bestpractices in wireless data system applications

Training and Course Materials for

Transportation Applications of GIS PI: Manuel D. Rossetti Co-PI: Michael Cole

– UG RA: John Sophabmixay, Yuri Bey Objective: Develop a course and course materials

on transportation applications of geographic information systems and intelligent transportation systems. The course will be available as an engineering technical elective primarily for civil and industrial engineering majors.

Licensed ESRI ArcGIS, Arc Route Logistics– Currently learning software capabilities

Ordered Geoexplorer3c GPS Unit Academic Two Pack from Trimble

Course Development– Investigating textbooks, materials– Identifying project topics

Training and Course Materials for

Transportation Applications of GIS

Current Projects: INEG

Efficient Timing of Pickup and Delivery Assignment Decisions (2013)

PI: Erhan Kutanoglu, U of A Co-PI: G. Don Taylor, U of Louisville

– RA: Darsono Tjokroamidjojo – Industry Support: JB Hunt Transport

Efficient Timing of Pickup and Delivery Assignment Decisions

Problem: Find the best time for making load assignment decisions: Should one wait for last minute opportunities or preplan these activities?

Approach: Using simulation and optimization, quantify the trade-off between having an early plan and waiting for soon-to-arrive opportunities

Objective: Provide a simulation and optimization-based tool for this analysis

Efficient Timing of Pickup and Delivery Assignment Decisions

Past/Current Activities– Optimization: UA

• Finished the majority of optimization experiments• A preliminary report is shared with JB Hunt

– Simulation: UL• Finished most of the simulation runs

– Target completion December 2001– Team collaborating on two journal papers

Determining Optimal Trailer Duty as a Function of Use and Age (2017)

PI: Darin Nutter (MEEG) and Richard Cassady– RA: Chet Tuck Wong

– Industry Support: Tyson Foods

Objectives:– to model the operation and maintenance of a

refrigerated transportation system– to use this model to optimize trailer duty assignment

Approach:– identification of system scope and economic

performance measures – modeling of the failure and repair processes – construction of a simulation model – definition of a trailer duty assignment policy – optimization of policy parameters – generation of final report

Determining Optimal Trailer Duty as a Function of Use and Age (2017)

Current Activities– Data Analysis

• Characterize MBTC #2005 trailer failure data

– Model development and collection of research results

• Simulation modeling of fleet performance

• Economic analysis of trailer retirement decisions

Determining Optimal Trailer Duty as a Function of Use and Age (2017)

Modeling and Analysis of Transportation Flows Created by E-commerce

Transactions (2012)

PI: Erhan Kutanoglu, U of A Co-PI: Mike Cole, U of A Co-PI: Mike Bartolacci, Penn State

– RA: Adam Ho

– Industry Support: ABF

Modeling and Analysis of Transportation Flows Created by E-commerce

Transactions

Problem: What is the effect of increasing e-commerce activities on the existing physical transportation network?

Approach: Estimate the amount of commerce generated by e-commerce using Gravity Models

Objective: Develop a modeling tool to help planners estimate e-commerce generated transportation flows and predict the effects on the transportation system

Modeling and Analysis of Transportation Flows Created by E-commerce

Transactions

Past/Current Activities– Developed the most refined version of the gravity

model using the collected data– Estimated the effects of e-commerce on the

transportation flows using the new gravity model– Presented initial results in INFORMS San Antonio

meeting in November 2000 – Shared the results with ABF – RA defended his thesis in Sep 2001– Team is working on two journal papers

On-line Benchmarking Database for Transportation Providers

PI: Manuel D. Rossetti Co-PI: Terry Collins

– RA: Tat Yuen Sang

Objective: To support innovation and dissemination of knowledge within the area of benchmarking analysis for transportation carriers

Target completion December 2001

On-line Benchmarking Database for Transportation Providers

Current Activities– Reviewing literature to develop comprehensive

performance metrics for evaluating transportation providers

– Developing list of transportation providers– Conceptual design of benchmarking database

using Unified Modeling Language (UML) methodology

Economic Evaluation of the Impact of Waterways on the State of Arkansas-

Phase Two

PI: Heather Nachtmann Objective: Analyze and report the economic

impacts of water transportation on the state of Arkansas

Task Plan– Review current literature– Data identification and collection– Estimate economic impacts of water transportation

using input-output analysis– Report findings

Economic Evaluation of the Impact of Waterways on the State of Arkansas-

Phase Two

Current Activities– Analysis has been completed– Final report has been submitted and approved–  Presentations have been made to:

– AR River Regional Intermodal Facilities Authority Board of Directors

– AR House and Senate Public Transportation Committee– AR House and Senate City, County & Local Affairs

Committee

– Currently developing a brochure to present research findings to AR legislature

Other Notable Items

Malstrom MBTC Fellow– Julie Watson

• Ph.D. candidate• Department of Industrial Engineering

– Improved transportation cost modeling