Applications of operations research in sea-land intermodal transportation

Abstract

This research paper forms part of the project “Applications of Operations Research in Sea-Land Intermodal Transportation”. It presents the studies on the application of operations research in liner transportation and intermodal transportation. The findings have shown that solutions to problem faced can become a constraint for another problem. Therefore, problems are usually solved inter-dependently. A case study on a liner company is included to illustrate this finding and how the management applies optimisation results to their decision making process. Subsequently, the paper has found that optimisation of intermodal transportation is not prevalent in research studies and industry. This can be a potential problem to the industry in the future due to the increasing demand for door-to-door transportation, where customers continue to demand competitive rates along with this value added service. Thus, the second part of the paper will begin with the analysis of barriers to application of operations research to intermodal transportation and recommendations on overcoming these barriers. This is followed by a case study to illustrate the success of joint optimisation among different players in the transportation network.