Direct Shipping Research Articles

Twenty-first century bootlegging: unlawful wine shipments and direct-to-consumer laws

ABSTRACTDirect to consumer (DTC) shipping has been a burgeoning segment of the wine industry for some time. However, regulatory policy has not kept pace with the growing reach and availability of these wines which has left this sector of economic activity prohibited in states that historically disallowed DTC wine shipping. Using detailed shipping records of wine shipments into the state of Oklahoma, a state that explicitly disallows direct shipping, we describe the nature of illegal wine purchasing in the face of prohibition by linking economic data from the American Community Survey at the zip code level for each purchase. We find that zip codes with 10% higher incomes purchase 7.4–9.3% more DTC wine, and that race is not a useful predictor in DTC demand. Our results have forward-looking relevance as well as more states amend their laws to allow DTC wine shipping. In just a 6-month period, an estimated $186,629 may not have been collected in excise and sales taxes in Oklahoma. This figure is plausibly a lower bound of future tax collections due to DTC prohibition.

SOIL CONTAMINANT SAMPLING RESULTS FROM LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE'S BOCA CHICA TRACT, CAMERON COUNTY, TEXAS

SOIL CONTAMINANT SAMPLING RESULTS FROM LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE'S BOCA CHICA TRACT, CAMERON COUNTY, TEXAS

Direct shipping service routes with an empty container management strategy

This paper presents an investigation of an empty container management strategy in a two-way four-echelon container supply chain for bilateral trade between two countries. The strategy reduces high maritime transportation costs and long delivery times due to transshipment. The impact of direct shipping was investigated to determine the number of empty containers to be repositioned among selected ports, number of leased containers, and route selection to satisfy the demands for empty and laden containers for exporters and importers in two regions. A hybrid solution procedure based on accelerated particle swarm optimization and heuristic is presented, and corresponding results are compared.

Closed-loop supply chain network design and modelling under risks and demand uncertainty: an integrated robust optimization approach

Closed loop supply chain network design (CL-SCND) is a critical economic and environmental activity. The closing of the loop to handle return, uncertainty in business environment, various supply chain risks, impact network design processes and performance of the firm in the long term. Thus, it is important to design robust and reliable supply chain structures and obtain network configurations which can always outperform the other configurations under the worst cases of risks and uncertainty. A generic closed-loop supply chain network based on mixed integer programming formulation is proposed with direct shipping to the customer from manufacturing plants as well as shipping through distribution centers under supply risks, transportation risk and uncertain demand using a robust optimization (RO) approach. A large number of numerical tests are carried out to test the performance of the model by considering a total of four levels of uncertainty for four different network structures types. The results of the tests confirm that the risk and uncertainty based integrated supply chain network models are more efficient (cost effective) than the other set of network configurations which treats the supply chain risks and uncertainty post-ante. To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed model, the case of an Indian e-commerce firm which wants to redesign its supply chain structure is presented. The results of case study show that the topology obtained from integrated treatment of risk and uncertainty called as RORU model, outperform other supply chain networks on various network performance indicators such as supply chain costs, the number of facilities open or close and the amount of products flowing through supply chain echelon. Thus, RO based mathematical modeling to address risks and its applicability for SCND for close loop supply chain is proposed, demonstrated and applied in practical cases.

Genetic examination of the type specimen of Ulva australis suggests that it was introduced to Australia

SUMMARY‘Ana‐aosa’, one of the most common marine green algae in Japan, was described as Ulva pertusa Kjellman in 1897 from Hakodate in northern Japan. Ulva pertusa was considered to be a temperate species, with its native distributional range restricted to northeastern Asia. Although this species has been reported from various regions outside northeastern Asia, these records have been explained as non‐indigenous populations. Recently, on the basis of genetic data and nomenclatural priority, U. pertusa was synonymized with U. australis Areschoug, a species described in 1851 from specimens collected in South Australia. Based on genetic studies, Australian populations identified as U. pertusa had been considered to have originated from Japan. However, the published genetic data on U. australis in Australia have been based only on recent collections and no historical specimens have been examined. We tested the hypothesis that native (true) U. australis is an independent species of very similar morphology to U. pertusa, but that its natural domination of shoreline habitats has been suppressed by introduced populations of U. pertusa from Asia. In the present study, we extracted DNA from the type specimen of U. australis housed in the Swedish Museum of Natural History (S) and obtained DNA sequences of the chloroplast rbcL gene and the nuclear rDNA ITS2 region. Our results show that U. australis and U. pertusa are genetically virtually identical, confirming that U. pertusa is a synonym of U. australis. This suggests that the introduction of U. australis to Australia occurred by the middle of the 19th century, when the type was collected and before there was a direct shipping route between Japan and Australia. We speculate that the introduction of U. australis to Australia occurred as a secondary introduction from non‐indigenous populations in northeastern Asia, but not directly from Japan.

The Research to Remove Barriers Between China and Tunisia in the Shipping Field

Over the years, the trade from China to Mediterranean countries has boomed spectacularly. The fast development of foreign trade has not only pushed China’s port industry and international shipping industry forward considerably, but also provided foreign ocean carriers and terminals opportunities and challengers. As Tunisia is a strategic location, the Tunisian ports overall goals are to increase the number of calls made to it. Then the market study between Mainland China and Tunisia turned to be necessary and meaningful.The objective of this research project is as a first a theoretical review to introduce and describe collaborative logistics management and investigate its consequence on the supply chain. This purpose necessitates a framework to support the collaboration between the entities in the chain especially in terms of logistics activities. Despite the identified needs and potential benefits, there are still barriers, which must be identified to attain desired benefits.On a second part the purpose of this study is to analyze China’s port industry and ocean shipping market in a relation to trade with Tunisia and to recommend some suitable Chinese ports to cooperate with Tunisian ports and find the reason why some top shipping companies are still not carrying goods to Tunisia. Two market surveys are performed, one for finding suitable Chinese ports for the Tunisian ports to cooperate with, and one to collect information from several top shipping companies using the Tunisian ports.In the third and last part a small research study focuses in the costs and quality shipment from China to Tunisia showing Tunisia as a transshipment port for the whole Maghreb. The case of study will be a proof of future consideration for Chinese shipping companies to assure a direct shipping line to the port of Tunisia. The case of study will be affirmed by statistical and theoretical analysis in order to confirm the idea.

Effects of paleoweathering and supergene activity on volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) mineralization in the Penokean Volcanic Belt, northern Wisconsin, Michigan and east-central Minnesota, USA: Implications for future exploration

Three cycles of paleoweathering and supergene activity have been identified within the Penokean Volcanic Belt (PVB) of northern Wisconsin, Michigan and east-central Minnesota, USA. These cycles are responsible for significant subaerial weathering, erosion, oxidation and most importantly local supergene Au, Ag and Cu enrichment that has a major economic impact upon volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS)-style mineralization within the PVB. The paleoweathering profile (regolith-saprolite) that developed on the exposed PVB surface now marks an angular unconformity with stratigraphically overlying, late Paleoproterozoic Baraboo Interval quartzites and late Cambrian sandstones.Differential uplift of the PVB surface is a direct result of the ∼1850 Ma compressional tectonic event that occurred during the Penokean orogeny. The uplifted PVB paleosurface experienced its first weathering cycle in the mid to late Paleoproterozoic. VMS mineralization near the paleosurface was exhumed and affected during this protracted cycle which ceased upon deposition of Baraboo Interval quartzites (1788–1714 Ma). Further uplift and subsequent unroofing of the quartzites during the Mazatzal orogeny (∼1650–1630 Ma) initiated a second paleoweathering cycle that culminated within the Neoproterozoic – Cambrian transition. During this cycle of accelerated and uninterrupted paleoweathering, new and surviving supergene Au-Ag-Cu-enriched profiles geochemically matured over exhumed mineralized sections in terrains with favorable fault block movements. Supergene systems that developed during both cycles were highly acidic environments. Low protolith reactivity and high hypogene pyrite concentrations promoted acidity of supergene fluids thus facilitating enhanced Cu, Au and Ag mobility. In those systems that lacked sufficient carbonate, Zn and Pb were lost to surrounding aqueous regimes.The second paleoweathering cycle ended with the deposition of overlying late Cambrian sandstone (497–485.4 Ma). Erosional retreat of the overlying Paleozoic sequence exposed many of these supergene deposits to a third, possibly brief paleoweathering cycle before the onset of Quaternary continental glaciation. VMS profiles not protected by sandstone outliers or within down-dropped fault blocks were glacially eroded.Of the 14 or more known VMS deposits and occurrences in the belt, four have preserved or partially preserved paleoweathering profiles. The most significant are at the Flambeau and Back Forty deposits where Au-Ag-enriched indigenous gossans with extensive or local underlying supergene-enriched Cu sulfide zones have developed over hypogene massive sulfide horizons. These profiles demonstrate efficient cumulative or multicyclic Au, Ag and Cu-enrichment to ore grades.Although commonly small (≤2 million tonnes), such supergene-enriched deposits are generally shallow, allowing for development by low cost open pit methods and production of exceptionally high-grade, direct shipping copper and/or gold ores. As such, the buried PVB unconformity is considered a prime exploration target that is highly prospective for new discoveries of commercially viable, supergene-enriched VMS resources.

An On-Demand Same-Day Delivery Service Using Direct Peer-to-Peer Transshipment Strategies

As the same-day delivery service becomes increasingly popular among e-commerce customers, it demands fast, cheap, and flexible on-demand delivery service. This paper proposes, formulates, and evaluates a new on-demand, same-day delivery (ODSD) strategy using direct peer-to-peer transshipment (P2PT). P2PT involves package relays among multiple couriers to extend beyond the normal service range of a single courier; this is done directly via effective collaboration and coordination among couriers. Three P2PT variants are investigated in this paper: P2PT-1 with one single inter-zonal ODSD service request (pickup and delivery in two different service zones), P2PT-M with multiple inter-zonal ODSD requests, and P2PT-RT with real-time inter-zonal demand. An adaptive boundary relaxation (ABR) heuristic algorithm is proposed and evaluated for its solution performance. The P2PT delivery paradigm is also compared with the most responsive and naive ODSD strategy of direct shipping. It is found that while P2PT tends to incur longer travel time than direct shipping, it provides the ODSD service without having to expand and maintain a larger fleet of vehicles (and thus drivers) or incurring extra labor cost. As the economy of scale of ODSD demand increases, those advantages of P2PT will only become more prominent. Our investigations have also found that the efficiency of P2PT, measured by the additional travel time incurred per ODSD service request, improves initially with the economy of scale, and then seems to flatten out in the static demand scenario or worsen in the real-time demand scenario as the number of service requests increases.

Dating the Cryptococcus gattii Dispersal to the North American Pacific Northwest.

The emergence of Cryptococcus gattii, previously regarded as a predominantly tropical pathogen, in the temperate climate of the North American Pacific Northwest (PNW) in 1999 prompted several questions. The most prevalent among these was the timing of the introduction of this pathogen to this novel environment. Here, we infer tip-dated timing estimates for the three clonal C.gattii populations observed in the PNW, VGIIa, VGIIb, and VGIIc, based on whole-genome sequencing of 134 C.gattii isolates and using Bayesian evolutionary analysis by sampling trees (BEAST). We estimated the nucleotide substitution rate for each lineage (1.59 × 10-8, 1.59 × 10-8, and 2.70 × 10-8, respectively) to be an order of magnitude higher than common neutral fungal mutation rates (2.0 × 10-9), indicating a microevolutionary rate (e.g., successive clonal generations in a laboratory) in comparison to a species' slower, macroevolutionary rate (e.g., when using fossil records). The clonal nature of the PNW C.gattii emergence over a narrow number of years would therefore possibly explain our higher mutation rates. Our results suggest that the mean time to most recent common ancestor for all three sublineages occurred within the last 60 to 100years. While the cause of C.gattii dispersal to the PNW is still unclear, our research estimates that the arrival is neither ancient nor very recent (i.e., <25 years ago), making a strong case for an anthropogenic introduction. IMPORTANCE The recent emergence of the pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus gattii in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) resulted in numerous investigations into the epidemiological and enzootic impacts, as well as multiple genomic explorations of the three primary molecular subtypes of the fungus that were discovered. These studies lead to the general conclusion that the subtypes identified likely emerged out of Brazil. Here, we conducted genomic dating analyses to determine the ages of the various lineages seen in the PNW and propose hypothetical causes for the dispersal events. Bayesian evolutionary analysis strongly suggests that these independent fungal populations in the PNW are all 60 to 100 years old, providing a timing that is subsequent to the opening of the Panama Canal, which allowed for more direct shipping between Brazil and the western North American coastline, a possible driving event for these fungal translocation events.

Integrated multiproduct batch production and truck shipment scheduling under different shipping policies

The classical economic lot-scheduling problem (ELSP) involves the batch sizing and scheduling of multiple products in a single facility under deterministic conditions over an infinite planning horizon. It is assumed that the products are delivered to customers at continuous rates. In today's supply chains, however, often employing complex delivery networks, the finished goods are usually transported in discrete lots to succeeding stages along the distribution process, in order to take advantage of economies of scale in transportation. In this paper, we formulate mathematical models that attempt to integrate the production lot scheduling problem with outbound shipment decisions. The optimization objective is to minimize the total relevant costs of a manufacturer, which distributes a set of products to multiple retailers. In making the production/distribution decisions, the common cycle approach is employed to solve the ELSP, for simplicity. Two different shipping scenarios, i.e. periodic full truckload (TL) peddling shipments and less than truckload (LTL) direct shipping, are integrated with and linked to the multiproduct batching decisions. We consider these two shipment policies for both coordinated and uncoordinated scenarios. The resulting mixed-integer, non-linear programming models (MINLPs) are solved by the BONMIN solver. Finally, a set of numerical examples illustrate and evaluate the relative efficacies of these policies.

宝钢铁矿石进厂物流成本简析

铁矿石外轮直进是原燃料配送物流中降低成本的重要手段。本文介绍了近10年来宝钢铁矿石外轮直进原料码头的实绩，分析了外轮直进率的限制环节，并提出了铁矿石物流运作中降低成本的建议。 The iron ore can be shipped directly into Baosteel iron-smelting plant by foreign vessels, in which we can cut the cost of transport. It is a description about in the recent 10 years, terminal performance of Baoshan iron ore direct shipping. This paper analyzes the limitation of straight rate of the outer link: monthly amount of resources, vessel type, material field capacity, stock level, etc. and puts forward some suggestions for reducing the logistics cost.

Drone shipping versus truck delivery in a cross-docking system with multiple fleets and products

We propose a new bi-objective multi-product combined cross-docking truck-scheduling model with direct drone shipping and multiple fleets.The proposed model considers two conflicting objective functions (scheduling cost and time) within a multi-objective mixed integer mathematical programming problem. Several constraint sets are also considered for both allocation and scheduling phenomena. An efficient multi-objective epsilon-constraint method is adapted to solve the proposed model. Several numerical examples and metrics are provided to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed model and exhibit the efficacy of the solution procedures and algorithms. The efficient frontiers of the numerical examples are estimated by generating non-dominated solutions. The effects that modifications in the costs associated with the direct shipping of products have on the corresponding Pareto frontiers are analyzed. Finally, sensitivity analysis is used to assess the robustness of the results of the model in the presence of uncertainty.

A geospatial approach to uncovering the hidden waste footprint of Lake Superior’s Mesabi Iron Range

For decades, the Lake Superior Iron District produced a significant majority of the world’s iron used in steel production. Chief among these was the Mesabi Range of northern Minnesota, a vast deposit of hematite and magnetic taconite ores stretching for over 100miles in length. Iron ore mining in the Mesabi Range involved three major phases: direct shipping ores (1847–1970s), washable ores (1907–1980s), and taconite (1947–current). Each phase of iron mining used different technologies to extract and process ore. Producing all of this iron yielded a vast landscape of mine waste. This paper uses a historical GIS to illuminate the spatial extent of mining across the Lake Superior Iron District, to locate where low-grade ore processing took place, and to identify how and where waste was produced. Our analysis shows that the technological shift to low-grade ore mining placed new demands on the environment, primarily around processing plants. Direct shipping ore mines produced less mine waste than low-grade ore mines, and this waste was confined to the immediate vicinity of mines themselves. Low-grade ore processing, in contrast, created more dispersed waste landscapes as tailings mobilized from the mines themselves into waterbodies and human communities.

Integrated Multiproduct Batch Production and Truck Shipment Scheduling under Different Shipping Policies

The classical economic lot-scheduling problem (ELSP) involves the batch sizing and scheduling of multiple products in a single facility under deterministic conditions over an infinite planning horizon. It is assumed that the products are delivered to customers at continuous rates. In today’s supply chains, however, often employing complex delivery networks, the finished goods are usually transported in discrete lots to succeeding stages along the distribution process, in order to take advantage of economies of scale in transportation. In this paper, we formulate mathematical models that attempt to integrate the production lot scheduling problem with outbound shipment decisions. The optimization objective is to minimize the total relevant costs of a manufacturer, which distributes a set of products to multiple retailers. In making the production/distribution decisions, the common cycle approach is employed to solve the ELSP, for simplicity. Two different shipping scenarios, i.e. periodic full truckload (TL) peddling shipments and less than truckload (LTL) direct shipping, are integrated with and linked to the multiproduct batching decisions. We consider these two shipment policies for both coordinated and uncoordinated scenarios. The resulting mixed-integer, non-linear programming models (MINLPs) are solved by the BONMIN solver. Finally, a set of numerical examples illustrate and evaluate the relative efficacies of these policies.

Direct over Indirect Container Transport for ‘Remote’ Areas: A Case for North Queensland?

This paper investigates trade-offs between direct and indirect shipping of overseas containers from East Asia to North Queensland, Australia. Direct shipping is where fully consolidated containers are directly transported to a destination port near which end customers are located; indirect shipping uses hub ports where de-consolidation/consolidation of goods occurs, and then land bridging to end customers in more distant locations. Indirect shipping is common in Australia for coastal locations with less volume. However, recent demographic changes in Queensland make the option of direct shipping, especially for goods from East Asia, more viable. This paper compares the cost, lead time, inventory level and social benefits for these two options. A quantitative case is then presented to illustrate these differences for a typical home appliance commodity. The results indicate that once sufficient freight volume is accumulated direct shipping is beneficial. These changes have significant consequences for Australia's logistics landscape.

THE INTEGRATED DETERMINISTIC MODEL FOR A VENDOR MANAGED INVENTORY IN A TWO-STAGE SUPPLY CHAIN

In a two-stage supply chain system, vendor managed inventory (VMI) policies is an integrating decisions between a supplier and his retailers. The supplier assumes the responsibility of maintaining inventory at its retailers and ensuring that they will not run out of stock at any moment. This paper discusses an optimization approach, considering the model of static demand on the inbound as well as the outbound inventory for a two-stage supply chain implementing VMI. In the proposed solutions for coordinating the single-warehouse multiple-retailers (SWMR) system, retailers are first clustered to minimize the within-cluster travel costs and distances and are then replenished using an optimal direct shipping strategy satisfying some additional restrictions.

The ‘Yellow Danger’? Global forces and global fears in the North Sea and beyond (1600–1950)

Since direct shipping routes between Europe and Asia opened up at the end of the 15th century, the growing intercontinental and regional shipping connections resulted in increasing entanglements between European and Asian maritime labour markets. This article analyses the long term development of the connections between European and Asian maritime labour markets and its impact on socio-cultural (and labour) relations through three elements: first, the changing connections between European and Asian maritime labour markets; second, the changing nature of European and Asian maritime labour markets and its influence on the positions of sailors; and third, the changing relations between European and Asian sailors and its effects on the reactions and interactions in a globalising maritime labour market. It explores how these changing global connections shaped encounters between European and Asian sailors on (intercontinental) shipping in and from the North Sea region, and how it affected the positions and reactions of its workers.

Entangled histories: Iron ore mining in Canada and the United States

This paper examines the entangled histories of post-WWII iron ore mining in the Quebec–Labrador region of Canada and the Lake Superior basin of the United States. After a brief look at the scale of iron mining in Labrador, we examine the so-called “Iron Ore Dilemma” in the United States—the fears that dwindling supplies of high-grade iron ore in the Lake Superior District threatened Cold War strategic interests. Using the case study of Reserve Mining Company along Minnesota’s north shore, we examine how cold war concerns about the depletion of direct shipping ore led American mining interests to promote the technologies and tax incentives needed to exploit taconite ore bodies—a lower-grade iron ore that required new technologies and created new environmental consequences. We then turn to the Canadian subarctic where American iron and steel interests worked with Canadian partners and the state to establish mines that might replace depleted ores in the Lake Superior Basin. Tracing the webs of connections between Quebec–Labrador and the Lake Superior Basin illuminates the ways that transboundary processes draw distant mining regions together. It also illustrates how the effects of mining extend beyond the mine site, crossing scales of time and space.

A Hybrid Approach to the Optimization of Multiechelon Systems

In freight transportation there are two main distribution strategies: direct shipping and multiechelon distribution. In the direct shipping, vehicles, starting from a depot, bring their freight directly to the destination, while in the multiechelon systems, freight is delivered from the depot to the customers through an intermediate points. Multiechelon systems are particularly useful for logistic issues in a competitive environment. The paper presents a concept and application of a hybrid approach to modeling and optimization of the Multi-Echelon Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem. Two ways of mathematical programming (MP) and constraint logic programming (CLP) are integrated in one environment. The strengths of MP and CLP in which constraints are treated in a different way and different methods are implemented and combined to use the strengths of both. The proposed approach is particularly important for the discrete decision models with an objective function and many discrete decision variables added up in multiple constraints. An implementation of hybrid approach in theECLiPSesystem using Eplex library is presented. The Two-Echelon Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem (2E-CVRP) and its variants are shown as an illustrative example of the hybrid approach. The presented hybrid approach will be compared with classical mathematical programming on the same benchmark data sets.

Analysing the effectiveness of vendor-managed inventory in a single-warehouse, multiple-retailer system

This paper considers a two-stage supply chain, consisting of a single warehouse and multiple retailers facing deterministic demands, under a vendor-managed inventory (VMI) policy. It presents a two-phase optimisation approach for coordinating the shipments in this VMI system. The first phase uses direct shipping from the supplier to all retailers to minimise the overall inventory costs. Then, in the second phase, the retailers are clustered using a construction heuristic in order to optimise the transportation costs while satisfying some additional restrictions. The improvement of the system's performance through coordinated VMI replenishments against the system with direct shipping only is shown and discussed in the comparative analysis section.