This study is designed to gain a better understanding of the decision process of freight shippers who use commercial truckers. Pursuant to this study, it is possible to gather some insights into the phenomenon of the selection of a trucking company to transport goods. Planning is essential to the attainment of goals in any type of firm, and that is especially true in the volatile environment of commercial trucking. Development of the external environment of trucking is prerequisite to the planning process and essential to the attainment of goals. The external environment of a trucking firm is generally represented by economic, social, and political influences, which extend specifically to the nature and tendencies of its markets, i.e., the shippers.

This thesis focuses on decision support for regional LTL carriers. The basic operating characteristics of regional LTL carriers are similar to those of national LTL carriers, i.e., they operate linehaul networks with satellites, breakbulks, and relays to consolidate freight so as to be able to cost-effectively serve their customers. However, there are also key differences. Most importantly, because the area covered by a regional carrier is smaller, a regional carrier handles less freight (sometimes significantly less) and therefore typically has fewer consolidation opportunities, which results in higher handling and transportation costs per unit of freight. Consequently, competing with national carriers on price is difficult. Therefore, to gain or maintain market share, regional carriers have to provide better service. To be able to provide better service, regional carriers have to be more dynamic, e.g., they have to be able to deviate from their load plan when appropriate, which creates challenges for decision makers. Regional carriers deliver about 60% of their shipments within a day and almost all of their shipments within two days. Furthermore, most drivers get back to their domicile at the end of each day. Therefore, the focus of the thesis is the development of effective and efficient decision models supporting daily operations of regional LTL carriers which provide excellent service at low cost. This thesis presents an effective solution approach based on two optimization models: a dynamic load planning model and a driver assignment model. The dynamic load planning model consists of two parts: an integer program to generate the best paths for daily origin-destination freight volumes and an integer program to pack freight into trailers and trailers into loads, and to determine dispatch times for these loads. Techniques to efficiently solve these integer program solution are discussed in detail. The driver assignment model is solved in multiple stages, each stage requiring the solution of a set packing models in which columns represent driver duties. Each stages determines admissible driver duties. The quality and efficiency of the solution approach are demonstrated through a computational study with real-life data from one of the largest regional LTL carriers in the country. An important "technique" for reducing driver requirements is the use of meet-and-turn operations. A basic meet-and-turn operation involves two drivers meeting at a location in between terminals and exchange trucks. A parking lot or a rest area suffices as a meet-and-turn location. This ensures that drivers return to the terminal where they started. More sophisticated meet-and-turn operations also exist, often called drop and hook operations. In this case, drivers do not exchange trucks, but one of their trailers. The motivation in this case is not to get drivers back to their domicile, but to reduce load- miles. The thesis presents analytical results quantifying the maximum benefits of using meet and turn operations and optimization techniques for identifying profitable meet-and-turn opportunities.

O estudo tem como finalidade tratar a alocação de recursos no nível operacional com a presença de incertezas. Para isso, foi proposta uma abordagem de otimização usando métodos heurísticos. As soluções de problemas de produção e logística, comumente abordadas em pesquisa operacional, exploram diversos parâmetros dentre os quais o presente estudo considera três como de incerteza: demanda, tempo de execução e indisponibilidade de recursos. Para tal finalidade foi escolhido como estudo de caso a resolução de um problema de logística. O problema consiste na minimização dos custos de operação, na seleção de veículos em uma frota heterogênea, consolidação das cargas para cada cliente e na seleção do tipo de frete utilizado. Quanto ao tipo de frete, são considerados dois, os quais se diferenciam quanto aos ativos envolvidos na produção e ao tipo de prestação de serviço, sendo eles: i) frota da empresa com serviço terceirizado; ii) frota e serviços totalmente terceirizados. O problema original foi decomposto em duas etapas: i) Compartimentalizador e ii) Alocador. As duas etapas são solucionadas via a abordagem de Busca Tabu, sendo que a primeira etapa (Compartimentalizador) gera uma lista dos carregamentos factíveis que atenda pedidos de até três clientes distintos. O Alocador se utiliza da lista dos carregamentos factíveis para definir como e quando cada pedido será atendido. Os resultados indicam a viabilidade da adoção desta abordagem para a solução de problemas reais. / The study aims to address the allocation of resources at the operational level under uncertainties. For this reason, it was proposed an optimization approach based on heuristic methods. The resolutions of production and logistics problems, commonly addressed in operational research, explore various parameters among which the present study considers three variables of uncertainty: demand, operation time and resources availability. For this purpose a logistics problem was chosen as study of case. The problem consists in minimizing cost operation, selection of vehicles in a heterogeneous fleet, consolidation of loads for each client and selecting the type of freight payables. Regarding of freight payables types, there are centered in two different tariffs, mainly due to assets and service negotiation, such as: i) fleet controlled by company and service outsource; ii) fleet and service completely outsource. The resolution of the original problem was broke down in two steps: i) Compartmentalizer and ii) Allocator. Both steps are solved through Tabu Search approach; the first step (Compartmentalizer) generates a list of feasible shipments to fulfill orders up to three different customers. The second step, the allocator uses the list of feasible shipments to define how and when each request will be supplied. The results aim the feasibility of assumes this approach in order to solve real problems.

O estudo tem como finalidade tratar a alocação de recursos no nível operacional com a presença de incertezas. Para isso, foi proposta uma abordagem de otimização usando métodos heurísticos. As soluções de problemas de produção e logística, comumente abordadas em pesquisa operacional, exploram diversos parâmetros dentre os quais o presente estudo considera três como de incerteza: demanda, tempo de execução e indisponibilidade de recursos. Para tal finalidade foi escolhido como estudo de caso a resolução de um problema de logística. O problema consiste na minimização dos custos de operação, na seleção de veículos em uma frota heterogênea, consolidação das cargas para cada cliente e na seleção do tipo de frete utilizado. Quanto ao tipo de frete, são considerados dois, os quais se diferenciam quanto aos ativos envolvidos na produção e ao tipo de prestação de serviço, sendo eles: i) frota da empresa com serviço terceirizado; ii) frota e serviços totalmente terceirizados. O problema original foi decomposto em duas etapas: i) Compartimentalizador e ii) Alocador. As duas etapas são solucionadas via a abordagem de Busca Tabu, sendo que a primeira etapa (Compartimentalizador) gera uma lista dos carregamentos factíveis que atenda pedidos de até três clientes distintos. O Alocador se utiliza da lista dos carregamentos factíveis para definir como e quando cada pedido será atendido. Os resultados indicam a viabilidade da adoção desta abordagem para a solução de problemas reais. / The study aims to address the allocation of resources at the operational level under uncertainties. For this reason, it was proposed an optimization approach based on heuristic methods. The resolutions of production and logistics problems, commonly addressed in operational research, explore various parameters among which the present study considers three variables of uncertainty: demand, operation time and resources availability. For this purpose a logistics problem was chosen as study of case. The problem consists in minimizing cost operation, selection of vehicles in a heterogeneous fleet, consolidation of loads for each client and selecting the type of freight payables. Regarding of freight payables types, there are centered in two different tariffs, mainly due to assets and service negotiation, such as: i) fleet controlled by company and service outsource; ii) fleet and service completely outsource. The resolution of the original problem was broke down in two steps: i) Compartmentalizer and ii) Allocator. Both steps are solved through Tabu Search approach; the first step (Compartmentalizer) generates a list of feasible shipments to fulfill orders up to three different customers. The second step, the allocator uses the list of feasible shipments to define how and when each request will be supplied. The results aim the feasibility of assumes this approach in order to solve real problems.