A shippers’ perspective multimodal freight transportation analysis considering shallow-draft inland waterways

Abstract

Multimodal transportation (MMT) enables flexible, sustainable, and efficient freight distribution across cities, states, and countries. Many researchers have incorporated the deep-draft inland waterways (IWT) into a MMT network to improve the efficiency of freight transportation to and from the hinterland area. However, the studies on inland waterways with shallow drafts are limited. This study investigates a multi-echelon MMT network design model that includes shallow-draft IWT alongside roadways and railways. The article aims to assist in tactical and operational planning for a unidirectional flow of goods from the shippers’ perspectives. A mixed integer non-linear programming model is presented to incorporate pragmatic aspects such as transportation subsidies, vehicle/barge heterogeneity, dredging, maintenance, and societal impact. The model is further applied to the case of National Waterways-2 (NW-2) in the Brahmaputra River, which handles multiple commodities from the northeastern region of India. Different scenario analysis are performed in this study to assess the sensitivity of the model. The experimental results demonstrate the importance of mode sharing with IWT in order to reap at least 20% monetary savings and other societal benefits.