FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION PLANNING

Freight Transportation Planning



Abstract

The research intends to produce an operating plan at the tactical level for the engineering of freight transportation. In this concern, the scheduled service network design has been used which applies the freight transportation network model to manage the flow of cars and other carriers effectively. The carefully planned transportation network aims to integrate the country across all of the cities, neighborhoods, towns, and regions which make the flow of transportation easy. Hence, the emergence of suburban sprawl as well as mass penetration of automobiles has also contributed in the increase of travel by means of vehicles to reach the desired destinations. This overriding concern has also optimized the need for the effective transportation network for the convenient, efficiency, and comfortable travel from one place to another.

The study aims to expound that the efficient planning and engineering of transportation networks ostensibly contribute in reducing the vehicle miles travel. However, the transportation planners and designers need to focus on reducing the travel time at the time of designing, planning, and engineering the effective transportation network. The research is primarily based upon the planning of freight transportation as the growing business needs require the reliable transportation network for the smooth flow of business activities.

The findings of the study indicate that the freight planning is primarily concerned with the improvement in the freight connections to local, states, national, and international levels through the use of different modes of transportation. A well functioning freight transportation is essential component of the well being of any economy. However, there are numerous challenges ahead which are likely to influence the freight planning and logistics which include the demands for the freight transportation, demand for the logistics services, the capacity of transportation infrastructure to meet those demands, role of pricing of road in the freight transportation, influence of technology on the movement of goods, and the developments in the logistics management. The transportation planners and engineers are required to consider the network structure adjustments at the times of exceeding demands and capacities during the peak times in order to reduce the congestion. The transportation plan must consider to create the alternate ways and parallel routes to reach to the city centers and the other prime locations to trim down the congestion during the peak hours. The study has also indicated the role of the scheduled service network design which focuses on developing the efficient operating plan in order to satisfy the transportation demands while ensuring the smooth, rational, and cost efficient transportation system. Hence, it includes managing the freight transportation through some considerations which includes the service selection, blocking policy, makeup policy, traffic distribution, and empty car relocation.

Freight Transportation Planning and Engineering through Scheduled Service Network Design

Introduction

Transportation is considered as the key determinant of the quality life of the countries as transportation networks do not only accommodate the accessibility and mobility but it also assists in determining the location as well as need for further ...