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Determining Rail Fleet Sizes for Shipping Automobiles

Author

Listed:
  • Hanif D. Sherali

    (Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (0118), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061)

  • Lawrence W. Maguire

    (TTX Company, 101 North Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606)

Abstract

Automobile manufacturers (shippers) provide railroad companies with annual forecasts of their monthly shipping volumes from various origins to different destinations. The railroad companies (carriers) jointly operate pools of railcars to transport automobiles. Each pool comprises equipment of a particular type and serves one or more shippers. RELOAD, a fleet management group within TTX (an independent company), manages the repositioning of empty railcars of each type for the carriers. The problem is to determine the smallest fleet size that will provide adequate service. The parties involved have settled on a coordinated use of static and dynamic fleet-sizing models along with appropriate correction factors to recommend the number of railcars of each type that should be acquired for any year. The approach incorporates such operating realities as queue times, forecast accuracy, and daily demand variability. By using this process, the railroad companies have reduced equipment commitments, saving over half a billion dollars annually.

Suggested Citation

  • Hanif D. Sherali & Lawrence W. Maguire, 2000. "Determining Rail Fleet Sizes for Shipping Automobiles," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 30(6), pages 80-90, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orinte:v:30:y:2000:i:6:p:80-90
    DOI: 10.1287/inte.30.6.80.11629
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. George J. Beaujon & Mark A. Turnquist, 1991. "A Model for Fleet Sizing and Vehicle Allocation," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(1), pages 19-45, February.
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    3. Hanif D. Sherali & Cihan H. Tuncbilek, 1997. "Static and Dynamic Time-Space Strategic Models and Algorithms for Multilevel Rail-Car Fleet Management," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 43(2), pages 235-250, February.
    4. Teodor Gabriel Crainic & Michael Florian & José-Eugenio Léal, 1990. "A Model for the Strategic Planning of National Freight Transportation by Rail," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(1), pages 1-24, February.
    5. Mark A. Turnquist & William C. Jordan, 1986. "Fleet Sizing under Production Cycles and Uncertain Travel Times," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 227-236, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hamid Sayarshad & Nikbakhsh Javadian & Reza Tavakkoli-Moghaddam & Nastaran Forghani, 2010. "Solving multi-objective optimization formulation for fleet planning in a railway industry," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 181(1), pages 185-197, December.
    2. Giovanni Pantuso & Kjetil Fagerholt & Stein W. Wallace, 2016. "Uncertainty in Fleet Renewal: A Case from Maritime Transportation," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(2), pages 390-407, May.
    3. Sun, Yanshuo & Kirtonia, Sajeeb & Chen, Zhi-Long, 2021. "A survey of finished vehicle distribution and related problems from an optimization perspective," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    4. Sangpil Ko & Pasi Lautala & Kuilin Zhang, 2020. "Data-Driven Study on the Sustainable Log Movements: Impact of Rail Car Fleet Size on Freight Storage and Car Idling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-15, June.

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