Thesis (PhD (Logistics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa currently experiences the double jeopardy problem of catching up to global economic competitiveness whilst at the same time feeling the pressures of sustainability management spearheaded by a global agenda. Global sustainability is defined as growth that is shared without depleting natural resources or damaging the environment. Academic disciplines are challenged to make a contribution and economics as such should contribute by providing the lead and lag indicators for the planning and measurement of scarce resources usuage. This integrative view includes economic subdisciplines, such as logistics. This integrative view is an acknowledged part of the economics discipline, except that the macro-economic context of some sub-disciplines, such as logistics, often receives less attention during the course of academic activities. The distribution of resources and outputs in the economy is a logistics controlled cross-cutting factor, but suffers from a lack of macro-economic perspective, and lead and lag orientated measurement. This state of the affairs is a historic backlog of logistics and its specific position within economics. During the primary economic era the world began to configure networks and markets, which became more pronounced and settled with the dawn and settling of the industrial era. Logistics then was a “given” and did not receive much thought even as industrial, market economies developed. Transport was regarded as an administered cost, i.e. inefficiencies in logistics systems were evenly distributed between competitors, not giving any specific entity an advantage. With the advent of global competition and the diminishing returns on other cost saving measures, companies began to collaborate and integrate logistics functions within value chains, but the administered part of transport costs failed to receive the attention it required. In this way, global competitors did begin to experience disadvantages on a national level as whole economies suffered from inefficiencies in logistics and specifically transport systems.

[pt] A escolha do modo de transporte de carga é uma questão crítica na modelagem da demanda por transporte. Este estudo utiliza a técnica de preferência declarada no sentido de analisar o transporte de carga no Estado do Rio de Janeiro, visando identificar quais são os fatores relevantes na escolha de modo de transporte (rodovia e ferrovia) por parte das empresas com atuação no Estado, na categoria de produtos de Carga Geral. O estudo utilizou o modelo Logit Multinominal com o objetivo de verificar a importância de fatores (custo, tempo, serviço, confiabilidade, disponibilidade e risco de roubo de carga) na escolha de modo por parte das empresas, e apontar quais medidas que podem ser adotadas no sentido de fomentar a multimodalidade no transporte de carga no Estado do Rio de Janeiro. / [en] Freight mode choice is a critical part in modeling freight demand. This study uses the stated preference techniques to analyze cargo transportation in the State of Rio de Janeiro, aiming to identify the relevant factors in the mode choice (road and railroad) by companies operating in the State in the category of General Cargo products. The study used the Multinominal Logit model in order to verify the importance of factors (cost, time, service, reliability, availability and cargo theft risk) in the mode choice by the companies, and to indicate which measures may be adopted to promote multimodality in freight transport in the State of Rio de Janeiro.

Esta pesquisa trata do projeto de redes de distribuição de carga parcelada. Mais especificamente são tratados dois tipos de problemas que são comuns no planejamento desse tipo de sistema. O primeiro deles corresponde ao problema estratégico de configuração de redes do tipo hub-and-spoke, consistindo na definição simultânea da quantidade e localização de terminais para consolidação de carga (ou hubs), e na definição da alocação dos terminais aos hubs localizados. Uma vez determinada a configuração da rede, o segundo problema, no nível de decisão tático, corresponde na definição do caminho que cada carga parcelada deve percorrer desde sua origem até alcançar seu terminal de destino, a um mínimo custo, tendo a rede hub-and-spoke como um dado de entrada do problema. Um novo modelo matemático é proposto para representar o problema estratégico de configuração de uma rede hub-and-spoke, possuindo uma menor quantidade de variáveis e restrições, ao se comparar com outros modelos matemáticos comumente utilizados para representar o problema. Esse novo modelo matemático permitiu a obtenção de soluções ótimas para problemas em redes com até 100 terminais, sendo apresentada pela primeira vez a solução ótima para problemas utilizados como benchmark na literatura. Dado que problemas de grande porte ainda continuam muito difíceis de serem resolvidos, são propostas três variantes de uma heurística simples e eficiente utilizando técnicas de multi-início e busca tabu, bem como uma heurística integrada em dois estágios baseada em busca tabu para solução. Experimentos computacionais utilizando dados tradicionalmente utilizados na literatura para solução de problemas de configuração de redes hub-and-spoke (conjuntos de dados CAB e AP), bem como instâncias novas e modificadas, mostraram que a abordagem utilizada para solução do problema possibilitou a obtenção da solução ótima, ou a melhor solução conhecida, para esses problemas em um tempo de processamento muito curto, permitindo assim resolver de forma eficiente problemas de grande porte, nunca antes resolvidos em pesquisas anteriores. O segundo problema foi motivado por uma aplicação prática de uma empresa de transporte rodoviário de cargas parceladas no Brasil. O problema diz respeito ao planejamento de carregamentos a serem realizados em cada terminal, levando-se em consideração cada carga parcelada que precisa ser transportada, definindo o percurso que cada carga deve percorrer até chegar ao seu destino. É proposto um modelo matemático e, dada a dificuldade para se resolver problemas de tamanho como o encontrado na prática, é proposto também um método de solução utilizando metaheurística busca tabu. Experimentos computacionais realizados mostraram que a heurística proposta pôde efetivamente resolver problemas de tamanho como o encontrado na prática. / This research deals with problems related to distribution networks for less-than-truckload (LTL) freight transportation. More specifically, we deal with two relevant problems that arise. The first corresponds to the strategic problem of designing and configuring hub-and-spoke networks in terms of simultaneously determining the optimal number of consolidation terminals (hub) nodes, their locations and the allocation of the other terminals (spokes) to the hubs. . Once the network configuration is determined, the second problem, in the tactical level of decision, corresponds to defining the path that each LTL individual freight needs to follow from its origin to reach its destination terminal, at a minimum cost, having a hub-and-spoke network topology as a data entry to the problem. A new mathematical model is proposed to represent the strategic problem of designing a hub-and-spoke network, with fewer variables and constraints than previous formulations found in the literature This model allowed us to obtain optimal solutions for problems in transportation networks with up to 100 terminals, reporting for the first time the optimal solutions of benchmark problems in the literature. Since this problems still remains too hard to solve for larger instances, we propose we propose three variants of a simple and efficient multi-start tabu search heuristic as well as a two-stage integrated tabu search heuristic to solve it. Computational experiments using typical benchmark problems (CAB and AP data sets) as well as new and modified instances show that our approaches consistently return the optimal or best-known results in very short CPU times, thus allowing the possibility of efficiently solving larger instances of the USAHLP than those found in the literature. The second problem is motivated by a practical application of a LTL transportation company in Brazil. It deals with the planning of loads to be done at each terminal, taking into account each LTL freight that needs to be transported, defining the path that each good needs to follow to reach its destination. A new mathematical model is proposed, and, since real world problems are very hard to solve, a heuristic based on tabu search is also developed. Computational experiments show that our heuristic can effectively solve real-world instances from a trucking company in Brazil.

[pt] Essa dissertação de mestrado faz uma análise da atual situação administrativa de uma empresa de transporte de médio porte que atua há 40 anos no segmento de cargas. A Empresa (Transalvini), localizada em Petrópolis-RJ, atualmente está na fase de transição de atuar apenas como transportadora de cargas para atuar como operadora logística, para seu cliente mais significativo, que é a FRN (Fleischmann Royal Nabisco). Essa transição requer diversas mudanças tanto na parte administrativa como operacional. A modificação só está sendo possível devido a confiança nos serviços prestados pela Transalvini no decorrer dos anos de parceria e ao acompanhamento e avanços tecnológicos aplicados em equipamentos e operação. Procurando otimizar a tarefa de distribuição de produtos e reduzir custos, a FRN contratou a Transalvini não só para continuar transportando suas cargas mas também para armazenar seus produtos, secos e gelados (refrigerados) e terceirizou sua frota de distribuição dos CDs (Centros de Distribuição) para entrega nos consumidores finais. / [en] This dissertation makes an analysis of the current administrative situation of a company of transport of medium load that acts for 40 years in the segment of loads. The Company (Transalvini), located in Petrópolis-RJ, now is in the transition phase of acting just as carrier of loads to act as operator logistics, for its more significant customer, FRN (Fleischmann Royal Nabisco). That transition requests several changes so much in the administrative part as operational. The modification is being only possible due to trust in the services rendered by Transalvini in elapsing of the years of partnership and to the accompaniment and technological progresses applied in equipments and operation. Seeking otimization the task of distribution of products and to reduce costs, FRN hired Transalvini not only to continue transporting its loads but also to store products, dry and colds (refrigerated) and its sold fleet of distribution of the CD (Centers of Distribution) for delivery in the final consumers. Actually the Carrier suffered a / [es] Esta disertación de maestría analiza la actual situación administrativa de una empresa de transporte de medio porte que actúa hace 40 años en el segmento de cargas. La Empresa (Transalvini), localizada en Petrópolis-RJ, está actualmente en fase de transición: de actuar apenas como transportadora de cargas para actuar como operadora logística para su cliente más significativo, que es la FRN (Fleischmann Royal Nabisco). Esta transición requiere diversos cambios tanto en la parte administrativa como en la operacional. Esta modificación está siendo posible gracias a la confianza en los servicios prestados por la Transalvini durante los años de parcería y al acompañamiento y avances tecnológicos aplicados en equipos y operaciones. Con el objetivo de optimizar la distribuición de productos y reducir los costos, la FRN contrató a la Transalvini no sólo para continuar transportando sus cargas sino para almacenar sus productos, secos y refrigerados, tercerizando su flota de distribuición de los CDs (Centros de Distribuición) para entrega en los consumidores finales.

[pt] Com o crescimento das indústrias e a competitividade entre os mercados o transporte de cargas urbano tem-se considerado fundamental para a economia, mas a importância de sua relação direta com a vida das pessoas nas cidades tem ocasionado que exista maior congestionamento nas regiões centrais. É, por isso, que é importante ter o conhecimento sobre o deslocamento das cargas urbanas dentro da Região Metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro – RMRJ. Este trabalho trata de estimar matrizes origem destino (O-D) a partir de contagens de fluxos observadas na rede. Estas contagens foram realizadas para dois tipos de horários considerados importantes por motivo de restrições de circulação, sendo estes o pico da manhã (7:00 às 8:00) e pico da tarde (17:30 às 18:30). Após fazer uma revisão bibliográfica sobre o assunto, o trabalho define entre os métodos conhecidos o que foi considerado mais adequado para a estimativa da matriz OD. Decidiu-se pelo método desenvolvido por Nielsen (1998) denominado como Método de Caminho Único - SPME. O Método foi aplicado na rede viária do plano diretor de transportes urbanos da Região Metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro (PDTU-RMRJ), usando o software TransCAD. / [en] With the growth of industries and competitiveness between markets, the urban freight transport has been considered fundamental for the economy, but the importance of their direct relationship to the lives of people in cities has resulted in more congestion in the central regions. It is therefore important to have knowledge about the movement of urban freight inside the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro - MARJ. This work try to estimate origin destination matrices (O-D) from flows observed on the network. These counts were done for two types of times considered important for reasons of traffic restrictions, which are the peak of the morning (7:00 - 8:00) and late peak (17:30 - 18:30). After doing a literature review on the issue, the work defines between the known methods the one that was considered most appropriate for the estimation of O-D matrix. Decided for the method developed by Nielsen (1998) termed as Single Path Matrix Estimation - SPME. The method was applied to the road network of the master plan of the urban transport in the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro (PDTU-RMRJ), using software TransCAD.

This diploma thesis address to a contractual ensuring of an international transportation from the business and the legal points of view as a part of intenrational business operations. It describes the clasification of freight transports and its economic significance in the world an in the case of the Czech Republic, as well. The thesis also characterizes the different types of transport contracts from the points of view of the Czech legislation as well as international treaties that is the Czech Republic a part of, including the ways of ensuring the customs declaration of transported goods. The thesis also includes a practical part focused on specifics of a dangerous goods transportation and the analysis of the related risks.

[pt] Utilização de veículos elétricos no transport e rodoviário de cargas e os desafios para implementação no Brasil discute as principais políticas públicas internacionais bem sucedidas voltadas para a expansão da frota de veículos elétricos para o transporte rodoviário de carga e como tais políticas pode riam ser adaptadas ao modelo de negócio brasileiro. Análises sobre as principais políticas públicas em mercados estrangeiros que resultaram em incentivos fiscais, expansão da infraestrutura existente e fomento de novos negócios na transição da frota de veículos convencionais para veículos elétricos, além de estudo sobre as possíveis adaptações que a legislação brasileira permite para que essas políticas possam ser adaptadas ao mercado nacional são os principais desafios para o setor. Os administradores públicos possuem o desafio de promover a sustentabilidade, capaz de proporcionar qualidade de vida à população e garantir que os sistemas de distribuição de bens urbanos atendam com eficiência as necessidades das cidades. Entretanto, embora a eletrificação , forma internacionalmente vista como alternativa à produção de gás carbônico, e outros chamados gases de efeito estufa, desde que a produção de eletricidade seja vista como essencialmente limpa, surja como a principal alternativa para melhorar a eficiência energética, muitos países ainda não implementaram políticas públicas para dinamizar a transição de suas respectivas frotas. Os resultados da pesquisa podem contribuir com futuros estudos sobre adequação de políticas públicas bem sucedidas e possíveis adaptações ao modelo de negócio brasileiro no setor do transporte rodoviário de carga com enfoque na mobilidade urbana sustentável. / [en] This research discusses the main successful international public policies aimed at expanding the fleet of electric vehicles for road freight transport and how these policies could be adapted to the Brazilian business model. Analysis of the main public policies in foreign markets that resulted in tax incentives, expansion of the existing infrastructure and promotion of new businesses in the transition from the fle et of conventional vehicles to electric vehicles, in addition to a study on the possible adaptations that the Brazilia n legislation allows for these policies can be adapted to the national market are the main challenges for the sector. Society is increasin gly demanding in terms of sustainability and, in addition, public administrators have the challenge of promoting sustainable mobility, capable of providing quality of life to the population and ensuring that the systems of distribution of urban goods effic iently me et the needs of the population in the cities. However, although electrification appears as the main alternative to improve energy efficiency and reduce the emission of atmospheric pollutants and greenhouse gases, many countries have not yet implem ented public policies to streamline the transition of their respective fleets. The results of the research may contribute to future studies on the adequacy of successful public policies and possible adaptations to the Brazilian business model in the road f reight transport sector with a focus on sustainable urban mobility.

As per the Paris agreement in 2015, 190 nations have joined the cause to cut the Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To limit global warming, the aim is to reduce the global emissions to half by 2030 compared to 2012 and reach net zero by 2050. The transportation industry can play a big role to achieve this target. The freight transportation sector need to reduce the emissions by 20% (5.7 Gt) by 2030 compared to 2020 (7.2Gt) in order to reach the Net Zero Emissions goal by 2050[1]. At Mycronic group, freight transportation operations generate the third largest GHG and CO2 emissions after customer use of products and Material use. Most of the in-bound and out-bound deliveries are carried out by air freight. Air freight creates the highest emissions out of all the freight transport systems. To reduce the use of air freight and meet the requirements of global agreement, Mycronic group aims to deliver products in more sustainable and effective ways. Hence, this study aims to find less carbon-intensive shipping solutions for outbound deliveries of Mycronic products. A comparative study of current freight logistics system and a more sustainable system has been carried for one of the Mycronic AB divisions’ products and specific to outbound deliveries from Sweden to USA. Study of future trends of freight transport system in terms of sustainability with respect to upcoming technology, policies and initiatives have been carried out. For the calculation of emissions, a third-party proprietary software was used to analyse and compare the sustainable solutions. Product forecasting and the making of a tCO2e calculation sheet for salespeople were also carried out as support for the company to implement the suggested solution.Shipping of products through waterways is much more sustainable compared to other transport modes and that it should therefore be adopted more often to deliver products. A multi-modal transport system, including shipping by sea freight and further combined by road or rail freight found to be the most efficient solution to reduce the emissions. To adopt this solution, the main challenges appeared are the client acceptance for longer lead times and organizational behaviour change within Mycronic group. The technical requirements of the product analysed in this study did not prove to be an issue for transporting the product by waterways. / I enlighet med Parisavtalet 2015 har 190 länder anslutit sig till målet att minska utsläppen av växthusgaser (GHG). För att begränsa den globala uppvärmningen är målet att halvera de globala utsläppen till 2030 jämfört med 2012 och att nå nettonoll till 2050. Transportbranschen kan spela en stor roll för att uppnå detta mål. Godstransportsektorn behöver minska utsläppen med 20 % (5,7 Gt) till 2030 jämfört med 2020 (7,2 Gt) för att nå målet om nettonollutsläpp till 2050[1].På Mycronic group genererar godstransportverksamheten de tredje största utsläppen av växthusgaser och koldioxid efter kundernas användning av produkter och materialanvändning. De flesta inkommande och utgående leveranser sker med flygfrakt. Flygfrakt skapar de högsta utsläppen av alla frakttransportsystem. För att minska användningen av flygfrakt och uppfylla kraven i det globala avtalet strävar Mycronic Group efter att leverera produkter på ett mer hållbart och effektivt sätt. Syftet med den här studien är därför att hitta mindre koldioxidintensiva fraktlösningar för utgående leveranser av Mycronics produkter. En jämförande studie av nuvarande fraktlogistiksystem och ett mer hållbart system har genomförts för en av Mycronic AB:s divisioners produkter och specifikt för utgående leveranser från Sverige till USA. En studie av framtida trender för godstransportsystem i fråga om hållbarhet med hänsyn till kommande teknik, politik och initiativ har genomförts. För beräkning av utsläpp har en tredjeparts programvara använts för att analysera och jämföra de hållbara lösningarna. Produktprognoser och utarbetande av ett kalkylblad för tCO2e-beräkningar för säljare genomfördes också som stöd för företaget att genomföra den föreslagna lösningen.Transport av produkter via vattenvägar är mycket mer hållbart jämfört med andra transportsätt och bör därför användas oftare för att leverera produkter. Ett multimodalt transportsystem, med sjötransport och kombinerad transport på väg eller järnväg, visade sig vara den mest effektiva lösningen för att minska utsläppen. De största utmaningarna för att införa denna lösning är kundernas acceptans för längre ledtider och en förändring av det organisatoriska beteendet inom Mycronic-koncernen. De tekniska kraven på den produkt som analyserades i denna studie visade sig inte vara något problem för transport av produkten på vattenvägar.

Throughout the Cold War antagonisms of the twentieth century, the United States (US) championed greater global economic cooperation and an embrace of free market principles to encourage economic growth. Post World War II, passage of the Bretton Woods Agreement institutionalized this political agenda effectively establishing the rules of global commerce. The result has been increased economic participation and trade liberalization. One of the last remaining vestiges of Cold War hostility and impediments to trade is the US economic embargo of Cuba, in place since 1960. Increasingly seen as a policy failure, the US has taken steps in the past two years to normalize relations with Cuba. At the same time, after extended conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, economic recession, and political polarization over the last fifteen years the US finds itself in a position of ambiguity towards additional foreign commitments. American efforts to open Cuba to two-way commerce serve both national security and economic foreign policy agendas. For Cubans, removal of the embargo represents an opportunity for normal relations with the world’s largest economy and access to capital and markets that come with it. The purpose of this study is to test the theory political economy, which attempts to understand society through the intersection of economic, political, and social functions, using US-Cuba diplomacy as a case study (Yin, 2009). Working within a multiple streams framework, the investigator examined how economic policy is changed under politically ambiguous conditions through a series of 20 semi-structured qualitative interviews and content analysis of secondary data sources (Zahariadis, 2014). Specifically, the study explored the behavior of interested individuals from the US and Cuba, so-called policy entrepreneurs, and their influence on the policymaking process during an open policy window. Research results suggest that policy entrepreneurs operate at the individual, state, and national scales of society using a variety of symbols to create and broaden opportunities for policy change. Across all three levels, US and Cuban policy entrepreneur’s behavior is guided by the search for rationality in ambiguous times, but their agency is bounded by the institutionally determined parameters of what is legally and politically acceptable.

[pt] A simulação da circulação interna-interna de veículos de carga foi um estudo inédito e inovador para a revisão do Plano Diretor de Transporte Urbano da Região Metropolitana de Rio de Janeiro (PDTU-RMRJ/2011), no qual se faz uma estimação de vetores de produção e atração (P/A) de viagens de caminhões para 730 zonas de tráfego, de matrizes origem-destino (OD) e a alocação de viagens de veículos de carga para três períodos (pico da manhã, pico da tarde e entre picos). A metodologia e modelo utilizados foram baseados em uma aplicação realizada na cidade de Sevilla (Espanha). Para o caso da RMRJ foram estimados vetores de viagens de dois tipos, um com relação às entregas do tipo Empresa a Empresa (Business to Business, B2B) e outro do tipo Empresa a Domicilio (Business to Housing, B2H). Como resultados ilustrativos são mostrados os vetores (P/A) de viagens diárias de caminhões agregados por município, uma matriz OD de caminhões no período entre picos agregada por município e a alocação dessas viagens na rede de simulação do PDTU para o período entre picos. Desses resultados, destaca-se que os municípios com maior quantidade (somam mais de 80 por cento) das viagens produzidas e atraídas dentro da RMRJ são apenas cinco: Rio de Janeiro, Duque de Caxias, Niterói, São Gonçalo e Nova Iguaçu; e que as vias mais utilizadas para o tráfego de caminhões são a BR-101, BR-116 e a BR-040. / [en] Within the framework of the Revision of the Urban Transportation Master Plan for the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Region (PDTU-2011) an innovative model was developed – first of its kind in Brazilian cities – for the estimation of truck flows within the study area. Productions and attractions vectors (P/A) of truck trip ends, as well as origin/destination (O/D) matrices for the 730 traffic analysis zones were estimated, and truck assignments for three daily periods (morning peak, afternoon peak, and inter-peaks) were conducted. Model methodology was based in another study conducted for the city of Seville (Spain). Two sets of P/A vectors were estimated, one for business-to-business deliveries (B2B) and another for household deliveries (B2H). Daily truck trip ends P/A vectors aggregated by city are presented, as well as a city level O/D inter-peak truck matrix and the results of its assignment to the PDTU-2011 simulation network. From those illustrative results, it is shown that only five cities (Rio de Janeiro, Duque de Caxias, Niterói, São Gonçalo e Nova Iguaçu) account for more than 80 per cent of truck trips produced and attracted within the Metropolitan Region, and that the most heavily used truck routes are comprised of BR-101, BR-116 and BR-040 expressways.