Title: A service network design model for an intermodal rail-road freight forwarder

Authors: El Hassan Laaziz; Najiba Sbihi

Addresses: MOAD6, Ecole Mohammadia d'Ingénieurs, Université Mohammed V., Avenue Ibn Sina B.P. 765, Agdal–Rabat, Morocco ' MOAD6, Ecole Mohammadia d'Ingénieurs, Université Mohammed V., Avenue Ibn Sina B.P. 765, Agdal–Rabat, Morocco

Abstract: Intermodal transportation has known a great development recently as a consequence of the development of container transportation services. The development of gateways infrastructures (ports, airports) but also the extension of gateways to dry ports has led to the development of intermodal logistics networks that requires research for the optimisation of their infrastructure design and their services configuration. The service network design problem of a network performing intermodal railroad freight transportation consists of the determination of the services to operate on the network and their frequencies while minimising cost and maximising service level. The purpose of this paper is to present a model for the service network design problem in the case of intermodal rail-road container freight transportation. This model is based on a capacitated fixed charge path formulation. It gives as outcomes shipping flows, service frequency as well as the required capacity and loading plans in the intermodal terminals.

Keywords: intermodal transportation; rail-road; service network design; consolidation; freight forwarding; combinatorial optimisation; mixed integer linear program.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLSM.2019.098328

International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management, 2019 Vol.32 No.3/4, pp.465 - 482

Received: 30 May 2017
Accepted: 04 Mar 2018
Published online: 14 Mar 2019 *

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