Design and Freight Corridor-Fleet Size Choice in Collaborative Intermodal Transportation Network Considering Economies of Scale

Abstract

Decentralized freight decision has been proved to be one of the inhibitors to achieve a sustainable transport network. One important method also a key challenge is to determine how to coordinate and consolidate the transportation flow to get the best logistics performance. This study presents an intermodal transportation network considering freight consolidation through freight forwarders’ cooperation. We formulate the problem as a minimum intermodal transport cost model, which is a nonlinear, nonconvex and discontinuous function that involves volume economies of scale, distance economies of scale and vehicle size economies of scale. A hybrid genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm in combination with a batch strategy are used to solve the problem. Five different transport demand scenarios are tested on a real case on “China Railway Express” (Crexpress). The choices of reasonably corridor and fleet size combination are provided.