Title: Simultaneous consideration of the accident and terror risks for hazardous materials transportation

Authors: Zafer Yilmaz; Vedat Verter

Addresses: TED University-Turkey, Ziya Gökalp Cd. 48/A, 06420 Çankaya/Ankara, Turkey; BLSS – BDTE – Birmingham City University, The Curzon Building, 4 Cardigan Street, Birmingham, B4 7BD, UK ' Smith School of Business, Queen's University, Canada

Abstract: We develop a methodology that incorporates the risk of terrorist attacks as well as the traditional accident risks. We consider the terrorist attacks against a single hazmat vehicle as well as a convoy including hazmat vehicles. Convoy formations, vehicle placements and movements, terrorists' attack capabilities are analysed in detail to estimate the undesirable consequences of an attack. A case study focusing on Turkey is developed. The proposed risk assessment method is incorporated in a GIS framework to identify the best paths among the common origin-destination pairs. Our findings indicate the necessity to update the traditional hazmat risk models in terror-prone areas, since there are significant changes in the optimal routes when the terror risk is also included. We suggest that hazmat vehicles should utilise wider, well-maintained roads in the event of a terrorist attack. It is advisable to integrate hazmat vehicles into convoys rather than allowing them to travel independently.

Keywords: hazmat transportation; route planning; risk assessment; terrorist assaults.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTL.2025.147886

International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics, 2025 Vol.21 No.1, pp.1 - 38

Received: 07 Aug 2023
Accepted: 30 May 2024
Published online: 07 Aug 2025 *

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