Georgia Southern University Digital Commons@Georgia Southern 12th IMHRC Proceedings (Gardanne, France – 2012) Progress in Material Handling Research 2012 Collaborative Freight Transportation to Improve Efficiency and Sustainability Kimberly P. Ellis Virginia Tech,
[email protected] Steven Roesch Virginia Tech Russell D. Meller University of Arkansas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/pmhr_2012 Part of the Industrial Engineering Commons, Operational Research Commons, and the Operations and Supply Chain Management Commons Recommended Citation Ellis, Kimberly P.; Roesch, Steven; and Meller, Russell D., "Collaborative Freight Transportation to Improve Efficiency and Sustainability" (2012). 12th IMHRC Proceedings (Gardanne, France – 2012). 8. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/pmhr_2012/8 This research paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Progress in Material Handling Research at Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in 12th IMHRC Proceedings (Gardanne, France – 2012) by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. COLLABORATIVE FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCY AND SUSTAINABILITY Kimberly P. Ellis Virginia Tech R. Steven Roesch Virginia Tech Russell D. Meller University of Arkansas Abstract Collaborative distribution offers the potential for substantial im- provements in freight transportation. As collaboration increases, more loads are available for sharing among transportation service providers, leading to more fully loaded trailers that travel fewer miles and reduce the cost per load on average. In this study, we develop approaches to analyze improvements in key performance measures as collabora- tion increases in freight transportation. For the data sets analyzed, improvements include a 34% increase in trailer fullness, a 29% reduc- tion in average costs per load, and a 25% decrease in average miles per load.