Integrating reliability, resilience, and robustness in freight transportation systems: A systematic review

In the increasingly data-driven, uncertain, dynamic, and complex domain of freight transportation, systematic evaluation of transportation systems is essential for informed decision-making by managers. While existing studies have aimed to address this need by examining the metrics of reliability, resilience, and robustness (the 3Rs), these are often assessed in isolation and based on a limited set of features. This results in a fragmented representation of the capability or efficiency of the transportation system, which also does not capture the full spectrum of relevant features. This paper addresses this gap by advocating for an integrated, feature-oriented analysis that concurrently considers all 3Rs metrics to enable a more accurate and holistic evaluation of freight transportation system performance. To support this objective, we conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) of studies published between 2019 and 2024 to identify the different feature classes associated with each of the 3Rs. The review employs a hybrid framework integrating PRISMA with VOSviewer to enhance methodological rigor and reveal thematic relationships among the 3Rs, resulting in a validated and comprehensive taxonomy of performance features. We then present a comparative analysis of these feature classes, illustrating how the most prevalent features associated with each ‘R’ can be collectively applied to evaluate the performance of freight transportation systems. In addition, this study outlines future research directions that can assist academics and practitioners in selecting areas for further exploration.