Empty Trailer Backhaul Brokering to Enhance Revenue and Energy Savings in Transportation Services


Speaker


Abstract

Empty trips of a truck (backhaul) lead to revenue losses, increase environmental pollution and fuel consumption, and cost over a billion dollars each year in the US. Our research with telematics data from multiple trucking customers provides us with the means to match routes for backhaul loads (“backhaul brokering”). Our approach focuses on planned backhaul opportunities between a set of provider and customer with a long term focus. From a research perspective, the massive amount of data and operational constraints quickly makes the problem computationally infeasible. We create unique breakthroughs that decrease the computational complexity yet retain the feasible space. The presentation will focus on a methodology that incorporates a mix of optimization, data analytics and mapping tools to match lanes and achieve over 70% ROI (return on investment). Insights from our research will be particularly useful for transportation managers and other executives where asset utilization, revenue enhancement and energy savings are key to business sustainability.
Contact information:
Dr. Wolf Ketter
Email