Transportation cost estimation in freight distribution services with time windows: application to an Italian urban area

Francesco P. Deflorio (1) , Jesus Gonzalez-Feliu (2) , Guido Perboli (3) , Roberto Tadei (3)

1 DIATI - Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Ambiente, del Territorio e delle Infrastrutture
2 LET - Laboratoire d'économie des transports
3 DAUIN - Department of Computer Engineering

This paper studies a set of indicators for evaluating how the quality of a freight distribution service with time windows, which operates on a given road network to satisfy a number of requests, affects the service cost. The result of a service quality setting, expressed as the width of the time windows, has been assessed using five indicators, which are a measure of the service operating costs and based on the request compatibility time interval. Each indicator's performance has been evaluated in an experimental context to produce realistic test cases, using a trip planning tool and a demand generator. The results confirm the ability of the selected indicators to predict with a good approximation the transportation costs and therefore to support the service quality planning decisions.

Mots clés: urban freight distribution; time windows; indicators; simulation; cost-quality analysis

Domaines: Gestion et management; Recherche opérationnelle [cs.RO]

Francesco P. Deflorio, Jesus Gonzalez-Feliu, Guido Perboli, Roberto Tadei. Transportation cost estimation in freight distribution services with time windows: application to an Italian urban area. The Sixth International Conference on City Logistics, Jun 2009, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. pp.555-568. ⟨halshs-00758245⟩