Dynamic Decision Support for Regional LTL Carriers: Planning Tools for Driver Management and Freight Routing

The regional Less-than-truckload Trucking industry has changed substantially over the last few years. Large national LTL carriers are increasingly pushing their way into what were once regional markets. Driving the change is a combination of technology, a shift in production to Asia and economies of scale which allow third-party logistics providers and national LTL carriers to move into traditionally regional markets. To compete with national carriers, which enjoy economies of scale, regional carriers have to provide better service at lower costs. Costs can be reduced by reducing the Transportation and Handling Costs and by managing drivers efficiently. This book presents methods to reduce the daily Driver requirements for regional LTL carriers and to reduce daily costs of Transportation and Handling. One effective way to decrease driver requirements is by using Meet-and-turns. This book discusses the theoretical ramifications of the use of meet-and-turns and how it affects driver requirements. This book will be useful for employees in Operations Departments of LTL carriers and 3PL providers. Researchers in the field of LTL trucking will also find this book valuable.

Prashant Warier has received a PhD in Industrial and Systems Engineering and an MS in Operations Research from Georgia Institute of Technology. He has authored several papers and patents in the field of LTL Trucking and Retail Price Optimization. He is currently working as a Senior Research Scientist at SAP Retail in Scottsdale, AZ.