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Service network design models for two-tier city logistics

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Abstract

This paper focuses on two-tier city logistics systems for advanced management of urban freight activities and, in particular, on the first layer of such systems where freight is moved from distribution centers on the outskirts of the city to satellite platforms by urban vehicles, from where it will be distributed to customers by a different fleet of dedicated vehicles. We address the issue of planning the services of this first tier system, that is, select services, their routes and schedules, and determine the itineraries of the customer-demand flows through these facilities and services. We propose a general scheduled service network design modelling framework that captures the fundamental concepts related to the definition of urban-vehicle tactical plans within a two-tier distribution network. We examine several operational assumptions regarding the management of the urban-vehicle fleet and the flexibility associated with the delivery of goods, and show how the proposed modelling framework can evolve to represent an increasing level of detail. A discussion of algorithmic perspectives completes the paper.

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Acknowledgments

Partial funding for this project has been provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC), through its Industrial Research Chair and Discovery Grants programs, and by the Sapienza University of Rome, through the “Ricerche Universitarie 2009” program C26A09AT9W.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre Interuniversitaire de Recherche sur les Réseaux d’Entreprise, la Logistique et le Transport (CIRRELT), Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Canada

    Teodor Gabriel Crainic

  2. Istituto per le Applicazioni del Calcolo “Mauro Picone”, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via dei Taurini 19, 00185 , Rome, Italy

    Antonino Sgalambro

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  1. Teodor Gabriel Crainic
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  2. Antonino Sgalambro
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Correspondence to Antonino Sgalambro.

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Crainic, T.G., Sgalambro, A. Service network design models for two-tier city logistics. Optim Lett 8, 1375–1387 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11590-013-0662-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11590-013-0662-1

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