Freight Transportation System Research Articles

Locating charging infrastructure for freight transport using multiday travel data

Vehicle electrification has shown the potential to reduce environmental impacts and greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector. As electric vehicles (EVs) become increasingly prominent, the efficient placement of charging infrastructure poses a complex challenge that demands careful consideration. This paper delves into the investigation of how travel and parking patterns, derived from empirical data on freight vehicles, influence the optimal distribution of charging infrastructure across the freight network. This paper presents a node-based approach to optimize the allocation of charging infrastructure tailored explicitly for freight transport. The study identifies optimal locations for operator-owned charging infrastructure by leveraging GPS-based data collected from a fleet of freight vehicles operating in the greater Gothenburg metropolitan area. This research aims to enhance our understanding of the charging infrastructure requirements inherent in the freight transport system and provide decision support to logistics companies contemplating the shift from conventional fossil fuel vehicles to electric freight vehicles. The proposed model holds the potential for seamless adaptation to diverse freight transport systems, offering valuable insights to expedite the transition toward fossil-free freight transport on a broader scale.

An integrated intermodal freight transportation system to avoid container supply chain disruptions in Chattogram Port of Bangladesh

An integrated intermodal freight transportation system is a derived demand to transport shipping containers from/to the seaport to/from the hinterland, instead of undertaking cargo loading and unloading activities in port-protected areas. The concept of the intermodal system is to transfer containers to nearby hinterland nodes, such as dry ports, inland rail, road, and river terminals as a part of port development, as well as increasing port efficiency and productivity. Lloyd’s List ranked Chattogram Port as the 67th busiest container port in the world as per container port throughput in 2022. Chattogram Port has small-scale intermodal facilities for off-docks/ICDs in the port city only. In addition, a pure intermodal system has been developed by one rail ICD in the capital city, Dhaka, and two RICTs nearby Dhaka, but less than 5 % of port throughput. A large-scale intermodal for serving the major cities, SEZs, EPZs, and industrial areas is absent due to planning and policy problems, as well as the unavailability of intermodal infrastructure and network. Due to an improper hinterland intermodal chain, the port faced container supply chain disruptions at the port yard and exceeded port capacity, resulting in container vessel congestion at the outer anchorage of Chattogram Port. By developing rail and road infrastructure, and utilizing natural river connectivity, it is possible to develop road, rail, and river intermodal systems, and shape an integrated intermodal freight transportation system to avoid container supply chain disruptions in Chattogram Port. To develop an integrated intermodal system, this research chose a quantitative research methodology for port throughput data analysis and forecasting future throughputs that are advanced to the intermodal model for Chattogram Port. Overall, this paper aims to develop an integrated intermodal freight transportation system to support Chattogram Port to keep and increase the record of port productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness actively. Highlights Intermodal system is a derived demand for managing hinterland and port terminals of a seaport that needs to be implemented in Chattogram Port Container supply chain disruptions to be avoided to increase the port productivity and efficiency Inland intermodal connectivity will help to increase hinterland of a seaport It is necessary to develop an integrated intermodal freight transportation system to support Chattogram Port to keep and increase the record of port productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness globally

Complexity in road freight transport outsourcing networks. TRANSOPE: An agent-based dynamic model

This paper proposes a dynamic agent-based model (TRANSOPE) to simulate outsourcing among transport companies where, for the first time, accumulated knowledge is included as a variable to select service providers. The model consists of two main procedures. Firstly, the model simulates the decision-making of the professionals that contract transport service providers and the formation of outsourcing chains. Secondly, the model simulates the direct learning of participating companies and the transfer of knowledge towards their environment. Imperfect competition is replicated in three different scenarios, which involve the demand for transport services, regional distances and the intensity of knowledge transfer. The model is based on expert consultations and a survey conducted in an environment with a high concentration of transport companies in the Basque Country, Spain. The results indicate significant imbalances in the distribution of outsourcing, particularly in situations of low transport service demand, where 30% of transport companies do not secure any contracts. However, such situations led to strong regional interdependence. The dynamics of outsourcing reveals that over 75% of the contracted companies participate in all simulated scenarios from the first day. A strong hierarchy is also observed in the network, where certain transport companies act as connector hubs (with z-score values higher than 2.5 and participation coefficient values between 0.3 and 0.75), indicating a greater capacity for interaction and leadership in the transfer of knowledge. This feature allows the collaboration network to be identified as a scale-free network. The model has a low computational cost since the distances between agents remain constant. Finally, the formalisation of outsourcing decision-making in the model underpins its validity in forecasting the conduct of a freight transport system under shifting scenarios.

Key factors for developing freight and passenger integrated transportation systems in Brazil

The intensification of e-commerce increases freight movements in urban areas, which negatively contributes to promoting sustainable cities. Conversely, the spare capacity of the public transport system could reduce the externalities of urban freight transport and then promote sustainable cities. This article identifies and evaluates key factors for developing integrated freight and public transport systems. Key factors were identified with a literature review and then classified into benefits and barriers related to the urban environment, and challenges and strengths related to the transport operation. Subsequently, these factors were evaluated by experts and classified by estimating a Luce model. The results indicate that benefits are related to the fight against climate change by optimising urban space and reducing the movements of freight vehicles. Barriers are associated with the lack of a collaborative culture and the need to change consumer behaviour, which helps to promote collaboration and reduce just-in-time demand. For the transport operation, the integration of people and freight systems can reduce operational costs, increase the efficiency of the transport system, and improve the accessibility for people and goods, while promoting economic development by decentralising economic activity. To achieve these benefits, the main challenges concern the logistic activity and the cooperation of stakeholders.

Evaluating Roadblocks to Implementing a Green Freight Transportation System: An Interval Valued Intuitionistic Fuzzy Digraph Matrix Approach

Nowadays, freight logistics industries are seeking to adopt green freight practices in their transport systems to reduce environmental concerns; efficient green freight practices lead to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions while using less energy and material. The freight logistics industry, despite its significant contribution to a country's monetary development and economic welfare, is not well regarded because of its role in contaminating the climate. However, the freight logistics industry is trying to implement a green freight transportation system to improve their image with buyers. However, they are facing a lot of obstacles. Therefore, this article seeks to identify the barriers to the implementation of green freight in first world and third world nations and formulate them into a single numeric index. The interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy set based graph theory and matrix approach technique has been used in this research to derive the green freight barrier impact index value. The PERMAN algorithm is used to compute the permanent function of matrices. Findings suggest that the freight logistics industries in third world nations should pay more attention to societal and managerial barriers for successful implementation of green freight. This research will assist policymakers and managers of freight logistics industries to create strategies to overcome the hurdles in properly implementing green freight practices.

Research of the potential opportunities of crowdshipping: The case study of Ukraine and the Czech Republic

Urbanization and the growth of e-commerce are the main factors behind the growth of last-mile delivery volumes. Crowdshipping using the public transport system is one of the relatively new scenarios for the organization of such delivery. This solution has good potential to meet consumer demands for fast delivery while simultaneously minimizing the negative externalities of urban freight transportation, which is the basis of the sustainability of the urban freight transport system. An important condition for understanding the development of crowdshipping using the public transport system and the formation of certain practical recommendations for the effective functioning of such delivery is the study of the opinion of potential users and crowdshippers. Analysis of available literary sources allows us to assert that the potential of crowdshipping delivery depends on specific urban planning conditions and characteristics of the population. Studying the opinions of respondents from Ukraine and the Czech Republic will allow us to gain new knowledge about the attitude of residents of cities that differ in size and characteristics of the public transport system to the possibilities of crowdshipping.

Hybrid model for comprehensive covid-19 regional safety, risk assessment, and advanced vaccine analysis

Advancements in transportation infrastructure, shifts in consumption tendencies, and factors like COVID-19 have raised the need and burden on freight transportation. Various firms are assessing freight transportation systems' long-term viability, speed, and robustness worldwide, requiring data and measurement instruments for freight fluidity. This research attempts to provide a hybrid model to analyze the effects of COVID-19 and the subsequent production methods for the manufacturing sector. This work introduces a new and robust integration method by combining the Ordinal Priority Model (OPM) and Fuzzy-based Distance from Average Solution (F-EDAS) for the first time. The OPM approach was used to assess and measure the adverse effects of the epidemic. Production plans were thoroughly considered utilizing the F-EDAS approach. Digitalization and on-site renewable energy are identified as the most crucial recovery methods. The multi-scenario ranking findings assist managers in making resource-allocation choices for implementing post-COVID-19 production plans.

Rethinking Global Supply Chain Management in a Changing Environment to Develop an Integrated Freight Transportation System in Bangladesh

Global supply chain management has been a critical aspect of the international business community for decades. With the rapid growth of globalization, companies have been expanding their businesses to different parts of the world, establishing cross-border partnerships and operations, and relying on global trade for their success. In recent years, the environment in which these supply chains operate has undergone significant changes. The COVID-19 pandemic, changes in government policies, and fluctuations in global trade and investment have created a more complex and challenging landscape for companies to manage their supply chains effectively. This has resulted in a need for companies to rethink their supply chain strategies, especially in developing countries such as Bangladesh. The study employs qualitative research methodology to develop an integrated freight transportation system in Bangladesh just after the changing environment of supply chain management due to COVID-19, geopolitics, and other negative impacts that brought supply chain risks/disruptions in the global freight movement from/to Bangladesh through Bangladeshi seaports. The findings of the research brought the transportation disruptions that lead to problems like operation shutdown, lost sales, late deliveries, and reputation loss remarkably. River transport emerges as the overwhelmingly preferred mode, presenting a substantial 60% of the respondents' choices whereas rail mode is only 30% but rail offers advantages in terms of efficiency and cost-effectiveness to make it a strong candidate for transporting goods Furthermore, 41.58% of respondents expressed the view that COVID-19 has significantly disrupted various activities, including the global supply chain and shipping trade. The purpose of this research is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the current state of global supply chain management in Bangladesh and to identify ways to enhance the country's integrated freight transportation system. This research will examine the existing infrastructure, policies, and practices, and suggest mechanisms for improving the efficiency and competitiveness of the supply chain in Bangladesh.

Structure and dynamics of urban freight truck movements: A complex network theory perspective

Knowledge of the core structure and inherent dynamics of urban freight transport systems is important for the development of policies, aimed at improving the livability and sustainability of cities. The past decade has witnessed a great deal of efforts into analyzing the geographic structure of urban freight transport systems. However, in-depth studies on the system core structure and underlying dynamics are still absent. This study contributes to the field by analyzing large scale freight truck trip data from Chinese cities, using complex network analysis. We empirically reconstruct and characterize the urban freight truck mobility networks and reveal the underlying spatial interaction patterns. We develop a spatial network growth model which explains how hub-and-spoke core structure of urban freight transport systems are formed. The developed model captures the essential interaction dynamics of freight locations, and explains the effects of spatial distance, economic size and business pattern replication. Inspired by the model, we provide policy implications for land-use planning, transportation planning and sustainable urban development.

Constructing the Frontier: Russian-Chinese Trade as a Factor in the Modernization of the Far East at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries

The article delves into the development of the transport and logistical infrastructure on the Far Eastern frontier of the Russian Empire during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Throughout the period under study, challenges that emerged in the trade relations between Russia and China led to the creation of a new freight transport system for Russian-Chinese trading. This system proposed the integration of rail and maritime communication, with a sea port acting as the central logistical hub. This vision materialized with the construction of Russian railways in Manchuria, the leasing of Port Russian Dalian on the Liaodong Peninsula, and the initiation of maritime shipping by the China Eastern Railway Company. The article aims to systematically investigate the foundational concepts and the actualization of each segment of this new infrastructure. The research uncovered that the railways, sea port, and maritime shipping orchestrated by the Russian Empire in the Far East were viewed as cohesive elements of a unified trade and transport corridor. This corridor’s primary goal was to forge an effective linkage with the Pacific region. The data assessed in the study indicates that the Chinese ports and market stood as the foremost objectives for Russia’s geoeconomic pursuits in the Far East. In conclusion, the study underscores the importance of these novel infrastructural developments in the frontier modernization of the Far Eastern boundary shared by Russia and China.

Environmental and energy performance of integrated passenger–freight transport

The first-last mile (FLM) transport of passengers and freight accounts for a significant share of total transport costs, pollution, and energy consumption. According to recent scientific literature and institutional inputs at the European level, operational innovations such as the combination of passenger and freight flows may be an effective approach for promoting sustainable and energy-efficient FLM transport. In this study, the energy and environmental performances of an integrated passenger and freight transport system based on the bus network of Zrenjanin (Serbia) were investigated with different future energy mix and transport policy scenarios. The operational aspects of the integrated system were designed through collaboration with territorial stakeholders and an analysis of local planning documents. The performance was evaluated and compared with current public transport and freight schemes considering vehicle fuel and technology, total mileage, and other relevant endogenous and exogenous factors. The results of our analysis indicate operational benefits and energy savings, mainly due to reduced total mileage and the predisposition to shift to the active modes for the last mile. However, most expected long-term energy savings are the result of technological development of vehicles and modal shifts induced by policy strategies.

Singapore International Hub-Port And Its Effects On The Smooth Running Of The Sea Freight Transportation System In Indonesia

Abstract: The Port Singapore Authority (PSA) have a big role in sea transportation in Indonesia, whoever average 50 big vessels per day are tendered at the wharf of Singapore port for loading and unloading thousands of containers, so if Singapore port is congested for several hours the impact will make the crowded of sailing schedule for many vessels. Last week suddenly without any announcement Singapore port reported a problem with their port facilities and so their system, therefore many vessels were anchorages for several days about 4-6 days at the outer of the port for waiting time to tender. This accident makes the sea transport system by feeder service Indonesia-Singapore and vice versa re-scheduled. The impact for export-import activities from and to Indonesia was trouble because many can't call on time even omitted.  For several years or starting in 1985 Indonesian Shipping lines depend on Singapore port as an international hub port that will through cargoes to the destination port. They chose Singapore port because there are complete port facilities and a container system, nobody knows that crisis so will bome at Singapore as the biggest port in South East Asia. So now suggested to all of Indonesian shipping and Government to make a new big port as functions like Singapore port as an International hub port.

Maximizing truck platooning participation with preferences

Truck platooning refers to trucks traveling in convoy with longitudinal proximity. By reducing aerodynamic drag, platooning cuts truck energy use and operating cost along with other benefits to the freight transportation system. This research proposes a platform-based platooning system to maximize the participation of truck platooning considering stability of the formed platoons that arises from truck preferences of platooning partners. Preference-based platooning is of both scientific interest and practical importance to the trucking sector, which is highly fragmented especially in the US. The preferences depend on the benefits of fuel saving and schedule adjustment to coordinate the time for platoon formation. The formed platoons are stable in the sense that no two trucks in two platoons want to break away from their current platoons and platoon with each other. Tackling this operation planning problem, the proposed system involves a platform interacting with individual trucks in a way that reduces truck communication and computation burdens, mitigates truck privacy concerns, and overcomes trucks misreporting private information. The central methodological investigation of the interactive process is on how to solve the Maximum Stable Truck Platooning Participation (MS-TPP) problem, for which a two-phase algorithmic approach is proposed. The underlying idea of this approach is to progressively reduce the lengths of truck preference lists, by eliminating truck pairs that do not affect the MS-TPP solution presence and separating trucks in odd rotations – which are key constructs in this approach – from the rest of the truck population. Theoretical properties and computational complexity of this two-phase algorithmic approach are investigated, along with a comparison with an integer programming approach and extensive numerical experiments in the context of a northern Illinois road network in the US. We find that the proposed two-phase algorithmic approach is very efficient compared to the integer programming approach in forming a maximum number of truck platoons while ensuring stability. In addition, the percentage of trucks that end up platooning by solving MS-TPP is much greater than using a greedy approach. The algorithmic approach is computationally scalable for solving large problem instances. The advantages of MS-TPP, in terms of the percentage of trucks in platooning and the average utility gain, become even more prominent as we deal with a larger system with more trucks.

A structural equation modeling framework for studying sustainable freight transportation indicators in emerging economies

The movement of commodities in emerging economies is largely facilitated by freight transit. The major obstacle to developing sustainable freight transportation systems in emerging economies are multiple dynamic uncertainties and inherent sustainability risks. This study determines the major indicators responsible for the sustainability of freight transportation. Initially, 16 Sustainable Transportation Indicators (STIs) are identified through literature and discussed with experts under five sustainability parameters: reputation, overall service quality, resilience, economic model, and job satisfaction. The identified STIs are categorized under the economic, social, environmental, and risk categories. Later, a hypothetical conceptual Structural Equation Model (SEM) is employed to analyze and verify the data. The results from the study show that STIs such as Reputation, Employment Benefits, and Infrastructure and Technology are crucial for the development of sustainable freight transport in emerging economies as they can enhance the efficiency and productivity of transportation systems and, hence their importance must be considered for future deployment of freight transportation in these economies.

A game-theoretic approach to designing carbon regulations in a duopoly freight transportation market: Road and multimodal road-rail competitive systems.

Since the transportation industry produces remarkable carbon emissions worldwide, governments aim to curb these emissions by implementing different carbon regulations. However, little is known regarding how the heterogeneity of transportation systems should be exploited to design carbon regulations. To fill this research gap, the present article formulates carbon cap-and-trade and carbon offset regulations to reduce total carbon emissions produced by road and multimodal road-rail freight transportation systems (FTSs) in a duopoly market; the latter is regarded as a green, energy-efficient transportation mode. A novel procedure is suggested to allocate initial carbon caps that is a hybrid of both benchmark and grandfathering methods. The procedure allows the government to exploit the energy efficiency of the multimodal system, when targeting a reduction of total carbon. Then, a game-theoretic approach is adopted to implement the mentioned carbon regulations. A government, as a Stackelberg leader, maximizes a social welfare function containing economic, social, and environmental dimensions. Under the cap-and-trade regulation, a Nash bargaining process is proposed to trade carbon permits between the FTSs, as the followers, for updating their initial caps. The equilibrium outputs of the two mentioned carbon regulations and a carbon tax regulation are compared. The findings based on an experimental analysis suggest that the cap-and-trade (carbon offset) is the optimal and energy-efficient regulation from the social (economic or environmental) perspective. In terms of policy implications, our findings indicate that the development of a marketplace infrastructure for trading carbon permits is not justifiable under theeconomic and environmental perspectives of the government.

Resilience for freight transportation systems to disruptive events: a review of concepts and metrics

Resilience is a multidisciplinary concept that deals with rapid response and recovery of a system experiencing a disruption. Despite extensive research on this topic, there is a need to clarify resilience concepts in the context of road freight transportation systems (FTSs) from a three-dimensional perspective (i.e., physical infrastructure, users, and managing organizations) and to identify persistent knowledge gaps concerning the characterization and measurement of FTS resilience vis-à-vis disruptive events. This paper addresses these shortcomings through a systematic review of 149 research studies. The synthesis of findings clarifies inconsistencies associated with the characteristics of FTS resilience and in so doing, establishes a unified framework for measuring FTS resilience through the life cycle of disruptive events. Critical data gaps, methodological shortcomings, and a lack of empirical evidence concerning FTS resilience to disruptive events remain. More robust analytical approaches are required to incorporate interdependencies among FTS dimensions into resilience assessments.

Environmental Sustainability of Inland Freight Transportation Systems in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is committed to perform on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and prioritizing climate change issues to create a safe living and working environment for all. Transport has an enormous contribution to society in functioning our daily life also a cause of environmental degradation. More than 95% of containerized cargo are moving from/to Chattogram Port by using road mode that is liable for Carbon dioxide (CO2) emission, congestion, and high transport cost. Rail intermodal is facing capacity constraints in Dhaka rail Inland Container Depot (ICD), and river intermodal is under-utilized for the shortage of hinterland logistics facilities, the mindset of users, and poor terminal productivity. This research applied the quantitative method to analyze the port throughput of Chattogram Port and its hinterland connectivity by nodes to get innovation and sustainability to identify environmental factors in international freight movement economically. On the basis of a literature review, and explored research gaps before data analysis, it is clear that environmental factors including SDGs are not considered in the inland freight transportation systems of Bangladesh. The research findings alerted that people in the freight movement system do not present a wide awareness of their activities and due diligence to environmental sustainability in creating a wider room for the next generations. The quantitative analysis of port throughput data indicated to increase in the share of intermodal especially river intermodal which has a wider scope to use available river ports in all parts of the country naturally. The practical impact of the research is to formulate a long-term environmental strategy in freight transport, corporate execution by all transport business-oriented companies/organizations, and enabling technologies in inland freight operations and monitoring. Overall, this paper provides a conceptual framework for the environmental sustainability of inland freight transportation systems in Bangladesh in doing international shipping and trade.

Modeling the Urban Freight-Transportation System Using the System Dynamics Approach

The dynamic and complex interactions between the urban freight-transportation system and population, economy, traffic flow, fuel consumption, and environmental pollution, make policymaking in this system one of the fundamental challenges of urban management. In this regard, a systemic approach in urban freight-transportation system modelling should be considered to solve the problems of the system. One of the main problems of this system is the mismatch between the freight-transportation capacity and the total freight-transportation demand. Considering the lack of sufficient studies in the field of macro and quantitative modeling of this system, the main goal of this article is to model the urban freight-transportation system in order to identify the factors affecting the urban freight-transportation demand and capacity. The main focus of the research is to develop quantitative scenarios which balance the freight-transportation capacity and freight-transportation demand. The urban freight-transportation system is modelled by the System Dynamics (SD) approach and their basic behaviors; as well as this the results of some policy-making scenarios are simulated. The model is validated by the real data of Shiraz. Five quantitative scenarios are designed with two approaches of managing the freight-transportation demand and freight-transportation-capacity sectors. The scenarios are based on four control variables, including the distribution coefficient, trip numbers, vehicle capacity, and vehicle numbers. The simulation results show that the total gap between freight-transportation capacity and freight-transportation demand will decrease by optimizing each of the control variables. However, the combined scenario is the most applicable policy in order to maintain the balance between freight-transportation capacity and demand. Generally, the proposed model can be used to design different quantitative scenarios in order to optimize the freight-transportation system’s performance. This study can also help policymakers to manage the urban freight-transportation system more efficiently.

The information value of logistics platforms in a freight matching market

The information asymmetry in the freight matching of the long-haul trucking industry usually pushes shippers to join a logistics platform that has better knowledge of truckers’ cost information. A logistics platform that is plugged into a freight transportation system helps shippers overcome their information disadvantage but produces the double marginalization effect. We investigate the equilibrium characteristics of a shipper and logistics platform in the freight matching market and find that the shipper prefers to cooperate with the logistics platform in a small-scale sales market but searches for truckers by himself in a large-scale sales market. We show that the information value of a logistics platform for the freight system consists of two aspects: (i) employ low-cost truckers for the shipper and avoid the shipper’s inefficient expansion of the selling quantity in a moderate-scale sales market with greatly heterogeneous truckers, and (ii) improve both the total profit and social welfare of the freight system in a small-scale sales market. We further find that the shipper’s private information may hurt the logistics platform and the logistics platform can mitigate her double marginalization disadvantage by improving value-added services or lowering the logistics price in a large-scale market. Our findings provide guidelines for the shipper and logistics platform on how to choose the appropriate transportation strategy and employment strategy in different logistics markets.

Modular vehicle routing for combined passenger and freight transport

The continuous increase in urban deliveries and the ongoing urbanization of large cities require the development of efficient and sustainable transportation solutions. This study investigates the impact of modular vehicle concepts and the consolidation of different demand types in the route planning on the efficiency of the urban freight and passenger transportation system. Modularity is achieved by connecting multiple vehicles together to form a platoon. The consolidation of different demand types is realized by simultaneously consider passenger and freight demand in the optimization algorithm. The considered vehicles are specific for each demand type by can be connected freely, hence it is possible to transport different demand types in the same platoon. The cost terms in the problem formulation are comprised of travel time costs, travel distance costs, fleet size costs, and cost considering unserved requests. The modular vehicle operations are modeled in a novel pickup and delivery problem which is solved using CPLEX and Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search. In an extensive scenario study and case study in Stockholm, the potentials of the new modular vehicle type are explored for different spatial and temporal demand distributions. A parameter study on vehicle capacity, vehicle range and cost saving assumptions is performed to study their influence on the efficiency. The experiments carried out indicate a general cost savings of 48% due to modularity and an additional 9% due to consolidation. The reduction mainly stems from reduced operating costs and reduced trip duration, while the same number of requests can be served in all cases. Empty vehicle kilometers are reduced by more than 60% by consolidation and modularity. The proposed model and optimization framework can be used by companies and policy makers to identify required fleet sizes, optimal vehicle routes and cost savings.