What is it about?

In large cities, delivery companies have a wide variety of trucks: large and small, low and high torque, old and new . Megacities are very diverse in terms of their characteristics: hilly or flat, congested or free-flow. We develop a statistics methodology that, based on actual past performance, allocated the right truck to the right delivery area, and show an application at an express delivery company in Mexico City.

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Why is it important?

The paper is unique because it uses readily available data at the company, and takes advantage of the existing fleet diversity. Hence, investments in new equipment are not needed; just make sure the right truck serves the right area. For instance: don't send a low-torque truck to a hilly area and vice versa. In studies that we have done, savings in fuel efficiency can be up to 20%. An easy win.

Perspectives

I really like this paper. The method is novel yet simple, and can be applied by any distribution company. Advantage are larger if the variety in the fleet is large, the (mega)city very diverse, and the routes contains many stops.

Professor Jan C Fransoo
Technische Universiteit Eindhoven

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: A new statistical method of assigning vehicles to delivery areas for CO2 emissions reduction, Transportation Research Part D Transport and Environment, March 2016, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.trd.2015.12.009.
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