Search

This study investigates dynamic interactive patterns of the dry bulk shipping markets through the lens of structural vector autoregression (VAR) models. There are two distinct hypotheses in the extant literature. One is that asymmetry between spot and forward freight agreement (FFA) markets causes FFA prices to respond more rapidly to new information than spot prices, termed the Physical-Paper Hypothesis in this paper. The other hypothesis is that there are some diverse shocks with different propagation mechanisms, termed the Shock-Diversity Hypothesis. This paper combines these two seemingly separate hypotheses at one time in two illustrative structural VAR models, based on a dataset of weekly spot, FFA, and time charter (TC) rates in the dry bulk shipping markets. The two structural VAR models show that spot, FFA, and TC rates have different, particularly dynamic responses to identified permanent shocks. Furthermore, they show that the reduced-form tri-variate FFA-Spot-TC VAR model produces more accurate forecasts of future spot rates than the bi-variate FFA-Spot and TC-Spot VAR models. Therefore, market participants can use VAR models as an information-processing tool for understanding of (e.g. data descriptions and structural inferences), and forecasting in, dry bulk shipping markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

VNDN integrates the principles of Named Data Networking (NDN) into the VANET paradigm. NDN provides name-based and content-centric routing, which is better suited for vehicle mobility challenge compared to the traditional host-centric TCP/IP architecture. NDN names data instead of hosts and allows stateful forwarding based on content names, which eliminates the dependency on end-host locations and enhances reliability. This makes mobility management and content retrieval much simpler in VNDN compared to IP-based VANETs. High speed vehicle mobility in VNDN causes issues like network disconnections, and failed content delivery. Therefore, accurately tracking the real-time location of vehicles in VNDN is a crucial issue for seamless and reliable content retrieval during mobility. In this paper, we compare and analyze legacy vehicle tracking-based mobility management techniques in VNDN, in order to provide preliminary knowledge for future incoming researches on vehicle tracking-based mobility management in the VNDN environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digitalization is constantly altering company paradigms and expanding cross-border supply chain prospects. Maritime transportation plays an increasingly essential part in the global supply network. Since maritime shipping services need to exchange a huge number of papers and paperwork across numerous companies, the usage of a unified platform for inter-organisational communication and information sharing is required. To develop an integrative, adaptive, and intelligent container booking system, a multi-agent architecture is designed in this article. The proposed architecture will aid the maritime industry in establishing real-time information interchange between autonomous agents, shippers, freight forwarders, and shipping lines. The process outlined in this paper reveals how the agents communicate with one another to resolve underlying inconsistencies. With the multi-agent framework, the article also presents a container slot optimisation problem considering market segmentation, different booking periods, heterogeneous containers and port congestion scenarios. Using this model the managers can find the booking limit for each type of containers and accordingly they can accept or reject the incoming booking requests. Furthermore, a simulated case study is also provided to validate the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The logistics industry plays a crucial role in facilitating regional economic development. Serving as a vital link connecting producers, consumers, and various components of the supply chain, it has a direct and profound impact on the prosperity and advancement of regional economies. Based on the panel data of 11 provinces in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2016 to 2020, this paper constructs the logistics capability evaluation index system from four aspects: regional economic base, logistics infrastructure, logistics development scale, information technology and talent support, and uses the entropy weight TOPSIS method to measure the logistics capability of each province. The adjacency space weight matrix, geographical distance weight matrix and economic distance weight matrix are selected to build a spatial econometric model to analyze the influencing factors and spatial spillover effects of regional logistics capability. The following conclusions can be drawn from the analysis. From 2016 to 2020, the regional logistics capacity of the Yangtze River Economic Belt shows a trend of increasing year by year, but the logistics capacity of different provinces within the region has a large room for improvement. From the perspective of spatial dimension, the logistics capacity of the Yangtze River Economic Belt is "high in the east and low in the west". The results of spatial econometric analysis based on the spatial Durbin model show that there are significant spatial spillover effects on the logistics capacity of provinces in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Factors such as road network density, port throughput, water freight turnover, transportation, warehousing and postal employment will not only affect the logistics capacity of the region, but also have a spillover effect on the material capacity of neighboring provinces in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. This study improves the level of regional logistics capacity and promotes the regional economic development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. It can be used as a reference for other regions or countries in terms of enhancing regional logistics capacity and promoting regional economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on a paper discussing current practices for air cargo transport of horses, including results of a survey on health and behavior issues. Topics include observations made during transport, such as horse interaction, nasal discharge, capillary refill time, and demeanor, as well as injuries and pleuropneumonias (shipping fever) among transported horses.

The paper searches the work process of a ship agent - providing a set of representation services and ensuring compliance with the interests of a vessel located in a sea port for the purpose of loading/discharging of cargo and/or for other purposes. Agents organize and coordinate the arrival, staying and departure of vessels from the seaport. In the paper, the agency service of ships in sea ports is presented as one consisting of three stages of the work of a ship agent - operations that are carried out before the arrival of the vessel in the port, during the stay of the vessel in the port and after her departure. The events that fixed the beginning and end of each stage are defined. The agency service process is rather complex due to the large number of third parties to be involved in the procedures and formalities that allow a vessel to arrive in the port and depart. Such a process is accompanied by the issuing of a number of documents that the agent must fill in in order to inform all interested parties. The main time of the vessels' stay in the port are cargo handling - loading and discharging operations. During this period, agency service includes non-stop control of cargo handling, considering the interests of the shipowner. The three stages of the process under consideration are formalized in their mutual dependence and mutual conditioning using the apparatus of temporal logic. Their clear coordination in time ensures the coordination of the process in general, because only the timeliness and correctness of each stage of the agency service process and its completion allow the next stage to begin. The presented process was formalized with the help of temporal logic operators, which can establish cause-and-effect relationships between the stages and ensure the continuity of the process and the interconnection of the stages themselves. A set of documents necessary for the start, execution and completion of each of the stages has been defined. Some of the documents are external to the ship agent, some are issued directly by him, but each of them is key in the implementation of certain operations in the process of agency service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Few studies have conceptualized how companies can build and nurture international dynamic marketing capabilities (IDMCs) by implementing growth hacking strategies. This paper conceptualizes growth hacking, a managerial-born process to embed a data-driven mind-set in marketing decision-making that combines big-data analysis and continuous learning, allowing companies to adapt their dynamic capabilities to the ever-shifting international competitive arenas. Design/methodology/approach: Given the scarcity of studies on growth hacking, this paper conceptualizes this managerial-born concept through the double theoretical lenses of IDMCs and information technology (IT) literature. Findings: The authors put forward research propositions concerning the four phases of growth hacking and the related capabilities and routines developed by companies to deal with international markets. Additional novel propositions are also developed based on the three critical dimensions of growth hacking: big data analytics, digital marketing and coding and automation. Research limitations/implications: Lack of prior conceptualization as well as the scant literature makes this study liable to some limitations. However, the propositions developed should encourage researchers to develop both empirical and theoretical studies on this managerial-born concept. Practical implications: This study develops a detailed compendium for managers who want to implement growth hacking within their companies but have failed to identify the necessary capabilities and resources. Originality/value: The study presents a theoretical approach and develops a set of propositions on a novel phenomenon, observed mainly in managerial practice. Hence, this study could stimulate researchers to deepen the phenomenon and empirically validate the propositions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of major railway projects poses significant risks, which present considerable challenges to construction management. To accurately assess the level of construction management for these projects, this study incorporated resilience theory into the field. The grounded theory method was utilized to establish a resilience evaluation indicator system for managing a major railway project construction. Additionally, a resilience evaluation model based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method was proposed. This model was applied to evaluate the construction management resilience of a major railway project located in the mountainous region of southwest China. The results indicated that the project exhibits a very high overall level of construction management resilience. Specifically, it demonstrates high levels of ability to monitor and warn, an ability to resist absorption, and an ability to respond to emergencies. Additionally, it showcases high levels of ability to recover and rebuild, and an ability to learn to adapt. The evaluation results were consistent with the actual situation and verified the correctness and reliability of the method. Based on the aforementioned research findings, this paper puts forward recommendations on material redundancy and resource security from a resource perspective, and suggestions on organizational optimization and personnel capacity improvement from a subject perspective, thus indicating directions for enhancing the management level of major engineering railway constructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the problem of optimising the network of a Third-Party Logistics (3PL) company, placing emphasis on the distinct characteristics of the 3PL environment. The goal is to minimise the warehousing and distribution costs for both forward and reverse product flows. A new Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP) model is proposed to address this interesting problem. The related decisions include: selection of (a) warehouse(s) and the related product inventory quantities, (b) product unit loads transported, (c) truck combinations employed to perform the corresponding forward and reverse trips. The model was applied in a case study of a 3PL company to optimise part of its forward supply chain that comprises three warehouses, 23 suppliers and 53 customers. The results obtained were very encouraging, since overall warehousing and distribution costs were lowered by 10.8%. Sensitivity analysis indicated that additional savings may result from optimising warehousing capacities. The main contributions of this work are the inclusiveness of key aspects of the 3PL environment in the proposed model, as well as placing emphasis on warehousing costs and on management of truck capacities. A secondary contribution is the validation of the model's value through a comprehensive case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intelligent vehicular networks can not only connect various smart terminals to manned or unmanned vehicles but also to roads and people's hands. In order to support diverse vehicle-to-everything (V2X) applications in dynamic, intelligent vehicular networks, efficient and flexible routing is fundamental but challenging. Aimed to eliminate routing voids in traditional Euclidean geographic greedy routing strategies, we propose a hyperbolic-embedding-aided geographic routing strategy (HGR) in this paper. By embedding the network topology into a two-dimensional Poincaré hyperbolic disk, greedy forwarding is performed according to nodes' hyperbolic coordinates. Simulation results demonstrated that the proposed HGR strategy can greatly enhance the routing success rate through a smaller stretch of the routing paths, with little sacrifice of routing computation time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the rapidly evolving global marketplace, the logistics sector faces a multitude of challenges that demand implementation of more resilient solutions to respond to any future disturbance. Synchromodal transport, which is viewed as an extension of multimodal transport, is known as a key answer to this issue, as it provides more flexible and sustainable freight transport and also focuses on collaboration between different logistics players. We consider synchromodal transport as a collection of agents that not only have their own characteristics and behaviors, but also interact with each other, which impacts the entire system. In this paper, we study the system using an Agent-Based Modeling approach. The network represents the combination of long-haul and drayage transport, where pre-haulage and end-haulage are done only by truck, and the rest can be done by trucks, trains, or barges. A numerical experiment is conducted to evaluate cost savings and emissions reduction under different logistics service providers' relation and re-routing scenarios. Our findings show that synchromodal scenarios are more economically and environmentally efficient, and that they lead to higher flexibility and reliability compared to business-as-usual scenarios. Additionally, our model verifies that the cost saving is considerable when logistics service providers collaborate with each other. The results of sensitivity analyses show consistent overall trends when comparing the different scenarios. Therefore, the conclusions drawn from the original experiment appear to be applicable, not only for that specific instance, but have broader relevance and applicability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a key component of high‐performance switches and routers, the packet forwarding engine (PFE) is mainly responsible for selecting the appropriate output port for tens of thousands of packets within an extremely short time frame. However, the performance of PFE is determined by the selected group membership algorithm. This paper puts forth a hybrid strategy–caching scalar‐pair and vectors routing and forwarding (CSVRF), consisting of virtual output port bitmap caching (VOPBC) and fractional‐N SVRF to address major multicast forwarding issues such as scalability by using content addressable memory. In CSVRF, a virtual output port bitmap cache is introduced, which includes the most popular combinations of output port bitmap and divides the big scalar‐pair into N sub‐groups to achieve parallel compute and the reusability of less bit‐length prime. The results demonstrate that the memory space and the forwarding latency are effectively reduced compared with previous work. In space efficiency, it only required 10% memory space compared with the original SVRF/fractional‐N SVRF, decreased 10% memory usage compared with pure VOPBC and nearly improved 1 to 4 orders of magnitude of packet processing time compared with the original SVRF and the fractional‐N SVRF respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UAVs in most real-world deployments communicate with a ground control station either in a one-hop manner, which has a limited working range, or relies on infrastructure support such as satellite communication, which is expensive. Although multi-hop transmission is more economic, it is lossy and generally incurs large delays. In this paper, we consider a mixed method, where a few UAVs are equipped with satellite modules, and aggregate and forward traffic of nearby UAVs. The surrounding UAVs and the forwarding UAV form a star topology. Based on this model, we design an UAV formation strategy to cover a given region to minimize both the total number of UAVs and the number of UAVs with satellite modules. Since these two goals may be competing, we propose seven strategies and analyze them theoretically. Simulations show that a good tradeoff between the two goals can be obtained when each star network consists of four UAVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the development of a decision support tool for a Rich Vehicle Routing Problem (R-VRP) of a major European do-it-yourself (DIY) retailer. The tool enables more comprehensive and structured planning at the retailer and an average of 8% transportation cost savings, translating to total savings of more than € 1 million per year for this specific retailer compared with the status quo. This article describes the development of a decision support tool for a Rich Vehicle Routing Problem (R-VRP) of a major do-it-yourself (DIY) retailer supplying its stores across Europe from multiple depots. The retailer uses external logistic service providers (LSPs) for the delivery to its stores and has two modes to choose from. In the first mode, the retailer proposes delivery tours to LSPs for execution. These tours are billed according to a nonlinear tariff with volume discounts depending on the delivery zones visited and the load carried. The LSPs accept the retailer's tour proposal only if tour duration and distance restrictions are kept. The latter is ensured by a relative detour limit. In the second mode, the retailer assigns single shipments to common carriers that consolidate them with shipments from other customers and bill this based on load and destination. The resulting problem represents an open VRP with two delivery modes, carrier selection and a heterogeneous fleet. Multiple delivery modes are standard in DIY retailing and constitute a general industry problem. The literature on VRPs and current software applications in the industry predominantly considers modeling and solution approaches that rely on linear distance costs, neglecting that nonlinear zone-based tariffs with volume discounts are standard in the freight forwarding business. Our work addresses this issue by developing a decision support tool for the retailer based on an exact algorithm for solving R-VRPs with a nonlinear zone-based tariff scheme and a relative detour limit. The tool is based on an innovative three-component set partitioning algorithm working on a complete set of feasible tours to solve the problem. We show that our approach optimally solves the daily distribution problem of the industry partner with up to 150 stores. Furthermore, implementing the tool enables more comprehensive and structured planning for the retailer and an average of 8% transportation cost savings, translating to total savings of more than €1 million per year for this specific retailer compared with the status quo. History: This paper was refereed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Warehouses recently face increasing stress imposed by a volatile customer demand and increasing customer expectations in terms of ever shorter order response times. In that respect, warehouses more and more offer same-day and next-day shipment conditions. However, same-day shipment promises are challenging to fulfil, especially as the order fulfilment process operates against fixed deadlines imposed by the predefined truck departure times. As a natural mitigation strategy, warehouses set a cutoff point and offer same-day shipment only to customers that order until the cutoff point, but next-day shipment to all customers ordering thereafter. Setting an appropriate cutoff point is challenging as it affects multiple facets of the service quality, such as the order response time and the service level. In this paper, we study the design of cutoff-based shipment promises for stochastic deadline-oriented order fulfilment processes in warehouses. We present a discrete-time Markov chain model for exact steady-state performance analysis and propose two novel performance measures – α - and β - cutoff service level – for service level measurement in these systems. We numerically show the benefit of cutoff-based shipment promises. Even with a late cutoff point, there is a significant gain in the system performance. Furthermore, we find that warehouses should set the cutoff point such that it balances customer expectations in terms of service level and order response time. Finally, warehouses can improve their shipment promises when referring to β - instead of α - cutoff service level and by implementing measures reducing the utilisation and the variabilities of the order fulfilment process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Content interest forwarding is a prominent research area in Information Centric Network (ICN). An efficient forwarding strategy can significantly improve data retrieval latency, origin server load, network congestion, and overhead. The state‐of‐the‐art work is either driven by flooding approach trying to minimize the adverse effect of Interest flooding or path‐driven approach trying to minimize the additional cost of maintaining routing information. These approaches are less efficient due to storm issues and excessive overhead. Proposed protocol aims to forward interest to the nearest cache without worrying about FIB construction and with significant improvement in latency and overhead. This paper presents the feasibility of integrating reinforcement learning based Q‐learning strategy for forwarding in ICN. By revising Q‐learning to address the inherent challenges, we introduce Q‐learning based interest packets and data packets forwarding mechanisms, namely, IPQ‐learning and DPQ‐learning. It aims to gain self‐learning through historical events and selects best next node to forward interest. Each node in the network acts as an agent with aim of forwarding packet to best next hop according to the Q value such that content can be fetched within fastest possible route and every action returns to be a learning process, which improves the accuracy of the Q value. The performance investigation of protocol in ndnSIM‐2.0 shows the improvement in a range of 10%–35% for metrics such as data retrieval delay, server hit rate, network overhead, network throughput, and network load. Outcomes are compared by integrating proposed protocol with state‐of‐the‐art caching protocols and also against recent forwarding mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The beam‐hopping technology can solve the problems of uneven user distribution and uneven service demand and improve the efficiency of resource utilization. It is one of the important technologies of future satellite–ground integrated communication. However, the mobility of LEO satellites and the on‐demand scheduling of beams make each satellite beam correspond to multiple ground wave positions, which brings great difficulties to data processing. In this paper, after analyzing the difficulties of the data forwarding buffer of the beam‐hopping system, a double‐linked list structure of user state chain and data buffer chain is proposed, which solves the problem of data forwarding between the satellite and users in the dynamic state and provides an efficient solution for the data exchange of the beam‐hopping LEO satellite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimal coordination is essential for multi‐automated guided vehicle (AGV) systems, particularly in logistic transportation cases, where the system task completion time needs to be minimized, with the guarantee of safe operation. This is because an optimal coordination strategy (OCS), if achieved, can significantly improve the transportation system's efficiency. In this paper, to deal with the dynamic interaction process among AGVs, and sensing and communication range limits, we formulate the optimal coordination problem into a distributed differential game (DDG) framework, where individual AGVs only use information communicated from nearby AGVs to design their optimal operation trajectories. This helps to significantly reduce the computational and communication requirements for the multi‐AGV logistic transportation systems. Targeting operation safety and working efficiency requirements, we incorporate collision avoidance and trajectory optimization objectives into the proposed framework. It is shown that local OCS, obtained by solving the DDG problem for each AGV, will converge to the global Nash equilibrium, which represents the most efficient operating condition for the entire logistic transportation system. Finally, the efficacy of the proposed method is demonstrated, based on simulations and experiments, benchmarked with existing logistic warehousing planning and differential game methods. Compared with conventional methods, the proposed framework successfully helps reduce the task completion time by up to 16%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freight curbside management has become a contentious issue as various stakeholders claim access to public urban space. Although prior research has offered solutions to mitigate freight-related conflicts in the use of space, a deeper understanding of the extent to which those interventions contribute to cities' sustainable development goals is needed. This paper presents the results of a meta -analysis that examines the effects of four freight curbside interventions: curbside space allocation for freight, data sharing, parking duration limits, and enforcement. The paper pinpoints benefits and drawbacks of those interventions on last-mile deliveries, the urban environment, and the use of public transport infrastructure. The findings suggest positive impacts and underscore the necessity of incorporating people-centred approaches in the design, implementation, and evaluation of policies concerning public space. Nevertheless, trade-offs when implementing those interventions have been identified. The paper concludes by outlining directions for future research and suggesting implications for urban freight policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An empirical study of the performance of the 6th generation ports (6GP) model is conducted for six container ports in mainland China. • A novel hybrid methodology is developed, comprising of CFPR, TOPSIS, and VIKOR. • Insights and implications for port managers, shipping companies, freight forwarders, and policy-makers, are suggested in the post-pandemic era. • This paper contributes to expanding the port devolution theory. Since the UNCTAD proposed the initial port model, called the first generation port model (1GP) in 1994, its adaptation and transformation have evolved, reflecting not only the evolution of port operations and technological advancements, but also the resilience of ports to natural disasters and supply disruptions. Recently, the trio of COVID-19, digitalization, and decarbonization (CDD) has emerged as core challenges whilst providing numerous opportunities for building adaption and resilience for the port industry. In light of this, the sixth generation ports (6GP) model has emerged. This paper addresses crucial research gaps by empirically testing the 6GP model, emphasizing the impact of emerging factors of the CDD, including 1) the lack of empirical testing for the 6GP model and the emphasis on the CDD; 2) the exploration of factors contributing to the significant development of Chinese container ports; 3) the investigation into how the CDD lead to the reversal of the port devolution continuum path. In doing so, an empirical study has been conducted, focusing on six major container ports in mainland China, all of which are among the world's top 10 container ports in terms of container throughput. It evaluates the importance of the criteria of the 6GP model with the performance of the six ports. The findings of this research are discussed for managerial and policy implications, enriching the existing literature on port devolution, and providing the port industry with a holistic view of port development and strategy in the post-pandemic period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shipping is a key component of the logistics industry and national economic growth, but the COVID-19 epidemic has caused many problems, including high shipping prices, shortage of transport capacity, decline in the rate of scheduled flights and port congestion, leading to supply chain imbalance and threatening sustainable development. From the perspective of sustainable development, based on system dynamics, the study focuses on economic benefits and uses game theory to solve the problem of benefit allocation among supply chain members. Studying the impact of different strategies on the overall revenue of the supply chain, it was found that in the models of freight forwarders and shipping companies, the additional costs, indirect losses, and indirect benefits of shipping companies directly affect strategy selection, and shipping companies are constrained by freight forwarders. In shipping companies and port models, the additional costs of shipping companies and the indirect benefits of ports directly affect strategy choices, and ports are largely constrained by shipping companies. To enhance the overall revenue of the supply chain and ensure sustainable development, supply chain participants need to improve their management level, service capabilities, risk estimation, and information acquisition capabilities. Meanwhile, it is also crucial to improve the pricing mechanism and establish an information sharing platform. These measures will help address current challenges and promote sustainable development of the marine supply chain. • Based the evolutionary game theory, an evolutionary game model is constructed between the participants of the marine supply chain (freight forwarders, shipping companies, ports). • The paper analyses the stability according to the phase diagram of the evolutionary game, and obtains the factors that affect the behaviour strategy selection of each participant. • Based on the theory of system dynamics, the system dynamics model is constructed and the causal loop diagram is drawn. • The parameters of the system dynamics model are assigned so as to obtain the key factors that have greater influence on the choice of behaviour strategies among the participants in the marine supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of intelligent manufacturing, the application of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) in intelligent warehousing systems has become increasingly common. Efficiently planning the conflict-free paths of multiple AGVs while minimizing the total task completion time is crucial for evaluating the performance of the system. Distinguishing itself from recent approaches where conflict avoidance strategy and path planning algorithm are executed independently or separately, this paper proposes an improved conflict-free A* algorithm by integrating the conflict avoidance strategy into the initial path planning process. Based on the heuristic A* algorithm, we use the instruction time consumption as the key evaluation indicator of the cost function and add the turning consumption in the future path cost evaluation. Moreover, the expansion mode of child nodes is optimized where a five-element search set containing the "zero movement" is proposed to implement a proactive pause-wait strategy. Then the prediction rules are designed to add constraints to three types of instructions based on the timeline map, guiding the heuristic planning to search for conflict-free child nodes. Extensive simulations show that the coordination planning based on the improved conflict-free A* algorithm not only effectively achieves advanced conflict avoidance at the algorithmic level, but also exhibits lower computational complexity and higher task completion efficiency compared to other coordination planning methods. • An improved conflict-free A* algorithm is proposed to achieve conflict-free planning. • Heuristic planning takes instruction time consumption as the key evaluation index. • Active conflict avoidance strategy is integrated into heuristic planning algorithm. • Conflict-free planning relies on a five-element search set and prediction rules. • Performance in computational time and task completion efficiency is superior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research emphasises the transformative power of digital solutions in Lithuanian forwarding companies, addressing the necessity for a systematic risk assessment to optimise processes and mitigate associated risks. The survey indicates an increasing adoption of digital solutions, with around two-thirds of companies already utilising them. A case study employing the AHP method identifies three key digital solutions: invoice automation, waybill digitisation and blockchain. A combined solution called a “document flow and management system”, showed significant potential for time and cost savings. Three risks – synchronising participants, employee resistance, and a lack of specialists – are identified as having the highest overall assessment and were selected for further analysis while implementing the prioritised digital solution. The expert evaluation identifies employee resistance as the most probable risk, posing potential significant losses in the initial post-implementation phase. Although issues with synchronising participants could yield similar losses, experts view this risk as less probable than employee resistance. After the AHP analysis, it was decided to evaluate the current information and document flow process, in other words, to optimise the process. The optimisation results show that freight forwarding companies could reduce document management time by up to 59%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of omnichannel logistics has led to fundamental changes in traditional e-commerce, retail, and consumer decision-making processes. Due to its crucial effects, the subject of omnichannel logistics has been frequently discussed in the literature in recent years. However, there is a need to clearly define at what level in the field of omnichannel logistics have been conducted and the themes on which they have been based. The aim of this study is to present an extensive and concise literature review on omnichannel logistics and to analyse the thematic evolution of the omnichannel logistics field. The study used bibliometric techniques to explore research trends in the field of omnichannel logistics. Employing SciMAT and VOSviewer software, the study analysed 156 articles from Web of Science journals. These research articles cover the 2016–2022 period. The analysis allowed exploring the dynamics in different years and identifying main/sub-themes. The findings highlighted the themes that are still in the maturation process. These themes are retail, service quality, omnichannel management, city logistics, warehousing, e-commerce and supply chain. This study presents a holistic picture of omnichannel logistics and introduces the themes related to retailer behavior and logistics process to the literature. Researchers can further their studies by considering prominent keywords in omnichannel logistics management. In this sense, the study offers beneficial implications for academics.In addition, the results of the study reveal the direction of the sectoral trends and the trend in the field of omnichannel logistics. In this sense, it offers a roadmap to businesses and sector employees in determining their strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forward Freight Agreements (FFAs) are exchange-traded futures and the main means of risk management for shipping spot freight. The relationship between the FFA market and the shipping spot market has attracted much attention, but few studies focus on the dynamic FFA term structure and its correlation with the spot price. In this study, we establish the dynamic term structure of the FFA market by quantifying the level factor, the slope factor and the curvature factor of the FFA term structure to reveal the underlying information in the shipping derivatives market, and further scrutinize the impact of the FFA term-structure factors on the shipping spot market. The empirical results indicate that the term-structure factors have significant time-varying effects on the BDI and BPI: The effect of the term-structure factors on BDI and BPI changes with shipping market conditions and economic environment. The level factor has a positive effect, while the slope factor and the curvature factor both have negative effects, with the impacts on the BPI being about twice as large as the impacts on the BDI. The three factors all have their strongest effect in the short term and the weakest effect in the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the frequent occurrence of drone black flying in large stadiums and airports, the requirement of precise electromagnetic interference to achieve unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) displacement and forced landing in these protected area became urgent. Since traditional suppression jamming will affect normal communication, and forwarding deceptive jamming has coverage hole, a smart forwarding deceptive jamming distribution optimal algorithm (SFDJDO) is proposed. It gives a mapping error scale factor and the optimal distribution of multistation forwarding equivalent mapping to solve the problem of distortion on the mapping scale caused by different distribution methods and reduces the influence of the mapping errors and the differences between the virtual and real point neighborhoods of the jamming source. A comparison of the proposed SFDJDO method to the existing jamming source distribution optimisation method is conducted in the aspect of area mapping and trajectory mapping. The findings reveal that when the GNSS receiver clock bias is within the capture range, SFDJDO demonstrates significant enhancements in mapping precision and jamming success rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Due to the absence of unified global regulations, defining the service and legal role of freight forwarders is challenging. This, as well as the lack of a standardized limit to the freight forwarder's liability for loss or damage to the cargo, introduces misunderstandings into his relationship with the client. The purpose of this study is to analyze the most widely used limit for freight forwarder's liability, set in Special Drawing Rights (SDR) units, and to adjust it, which will allow for maintaining the purchasing power of the compensation amount over different periods of time. Methods: In this study, two methods of adjusting the liability limit were proposed. In accordance with the first one, the limit was adjusted considering the impact of dollar inflation on the SDR unit. The second method involves changes in the limit of liability, taking into account changes in world prices for goods. Results: The result of this study showed that the second method is more functional, helping to preserve the purchasing power of the liability limit most effectively over time. Conclusions: This study revealed the fluctuating purchasing power of the forwarder's liability limit over time and suggests utilizing a methodology tied to changes in global goods' prices for adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a greater awareness of the challenges regarding environmental, societal, political, and economic factors, where reverse logistics has become a significant part of supply chain networks, this paper presents an integrated forward and reverse logistics network, named the Heterogeneous Fleet Vehicle Routing Problem with Multiple Forward/Reverse Cross-Docks (HF-VRPMFRCD). We consider a heterogeneous fleet of vehicles with different loading capacities and transportation costs. We also consider multiple cross-docks with two different operations: forward and reverse processes. The former focuses on delivering the demand from suppliers to customers, while the latter aims at returning unsold products from customers to suppliers. We propose a Simulated Annealing with Variable Neighborhood Descent (SAVND) algorithm for solving HF-VRPMFRCD, where Variable Neighborhood Descent (VND) is a local search heuristic embedded in the framework of Simulated Annealing (SA). SAVND outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithm in solving the Heterogeneous Fleet Vehicle Routing Problem with Multiple Cross-Docks (HF-VRPMCD), where the VND heuristic significantly improves the quality of solutions. For HF-VRPMFRCD benchmark instances, SAVND provides optimal solutions for small-scale instances and better solutions than those of the GUROBI solver for remaining larger instances. Lastly, we present and discuss the benefits of integrating the forward and reverse processes. • We study the heterogeneous fleet VRP with multiple forward/reverse cross-docks. • We formulate a mixed-integer linear programming model for the problem. • We develop a simulated annealing with variable neighborhood descent approach. • We present sensitivity analyses and managerial insights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The object of the study is the logistics of goods delivery by ports. This study presents a methodology designed to improve the efficiency of goods delivery logistics at the Bejaia port (Algeria). It prioritizes the optimization of empty container allocation to the ZEP zone, taking into account the geographical accessibility of the Tixter area, aiming to reduce the high costs linked with goods transportation. At the core of this strategy lies the use of simulation techniques to optimize truck fleets, ensuring maximum utilization rates and effective management of delivery operations by the Bejaia Mediterranean Terminal (BMT) for its clients. Addressing this challenge, the study offers an exhaustive analysis, integrating truck assignment models and accessibility assessments of logistic zones. The results highlight the paramount significance of optimal resource allocation and synchronized client coordination for achieving streamlined goods delivery. It becomes apparent that employing these methodologies can yield substantial productivity improvements, emphasizing their pivotal role in strengthening the port’s logistical infrastructure. Via rigorous analysis and insights derived from data, this study elucidates avenues towards achieving operational excellence within the logistical infrastructure of the port. By harnessing innovative strategies to confront persistent challenges, such as optimizing truck fleets and strategically allocating resources, the research anticipates a profound transformation in the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of goods delivery operations. Ultimately, the integration of these methodologies holds the potential to propel the port of Bejaia towards enduring success and a competitive edge in the ever-evolving landscape of global trade. Through extensive efforts, this strategy can be extended to other national and international ports operating under similar conditions, as it provides valuable information and methodologies to optimize logistics and transportation operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Vehicle allocation problems (VAPs), which are frequently confronted in many transportation activities, primarily including but not limited to full truckload freight transportation operations, induce a significant economic impact. Despite the increasing academic attention to the field, literature still fails to match the needs of and opportunities in the growing industrial practices. In particular, the literature can grow upon the ideas on sustainability, Industry 4.0 and collaboration, which shape future practices not only in logistics but also in many other industries. This review has the potential to enhance and accelerate the development of relevant literature that matches the challenges confronted in industrial problems. Furthermore, this review can help to explore the existing methods, algorithms and techniques employed to address this problem, reveal directions and generate inspiration for potential improvements. Design/methodology/approach: This study provides a literature review on VAPs, focusing on quantitative models that incorporate any of the following emerging logistics trends: sustainability, Industry 4.0 and logistics collaboration. Findings: In the literature, sustainability interactions have been limited to environmental externalities (mostly reducing operational-level emissions) and economic considerations; however, emissions generated throughout the supply chain, other environmental externalities such as waste and product deterioration, or the level of stakeholder engagement, etc., are to be monitored in order to achieve overall climate-neutral services to the society. Moreover, even though there are many types of collaboration (such as co-opetition and vertical collaboration) and Industry 4.0 opportunities (such as sharing information and comanaging distribution operations) that could improve vehicle allocation operations, these topics have not yet received sufficient attention from researchers. Originality/value: The scientific contribution of this study is twofold: (1) This study analyses decision models of each reviewed article in terms of decision variable, constraint and assumption sets, objectives, modeling and solving approaches, the contribution of the article and the way that any of sustainability, Industry 4.0 and collaboration aspects are incorporated into the model. (2) The authors provide a discussion on the gaps in the related literature, particularly focusing on practical opportunities and serving climate-neutrality targets, carried out under four main streams: logistics collaboration possibilities, supply chain risks, smart solutions and various other potential practices. As a result, the review provides several gaps in the literature and/or potential research ideas that can improve the literature and may provide positive industrial impacts, particularly on how logistics collaboration may be further engaged, which supply chain risks are to be incorporated into decision models, and how smart solutions can be employed to cope with uncertainty and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The object of this study is the process of planning the work of a manufacturing enterprise that needs transport and forwarding services when exporting goods to counterparties in different countries of the world. The problem being solved is predetermined by the need to devise recommendations for choosing a transport and forwarding company when serving an individual customer, based on its individual needs and conditions of cooperation. A simulation model for the selection of a transport and forwarding company was constructed and implemented to meet the customer’s needs when exporting goods, applying the GPSS World simulation automation package. The model provides for the optimization of the choice of a transport and forwarding company for servicing counterparties based on the assessment of their activity indicators over previous periods of cooperation. When building the model, the types of commercial conditions of the exporter’s cooperation with the transport and forwarding company, indicators of the quality assessment of the basic level of service and the duration of service at all stages of the foreign trade operation were taken into account. The application of the constructed model in practice will enable exporters and importers to choose a transport and forwarding company depending on the individual needs of customers in the delivery of goods. The simulation results reflect the performance indicators of the provision of transport and forwarding services by various specialized enterprises. This will make it possible to involve in the transport and forwarding service of a separate counterparty an organization that will meet all the requirements of goods buyer in accordance with the terms of the international economic contract. At the same time, the duration of choosing and agreeing the terms of cooperation could be reduced by 12–15 % while the efficiency of transport and forwarding services would increase by 13–16 % [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Durability is a desired characteristic for all battery packs in Electric Vehicles. In this study, the service life of the EV battery pack under real-world operating conditions is projected using an Arrhenius mathematical simulation model. The model comprises a 39.2 kWh EV Lithium-Ion battery pack integrated with a three-phase inverter to convert the battery pack's Direct Current output to Alternating Current. In addition, the Alternating Current output is coupled to a 100 kW permanent magnet synchronous motor, which is regarded as the load. A field-oriented controller provides pulse width-modulated output signals that are supplied back to the inverter to generate the correct driving current. Variable conditions of charge rate (C-rate: 1.25C -- 4C), discharge rate (C-rate: 0.5C -- 4C), temperature (25°C-60°C), and depth of discharge (30%-90%) are evaluated to determine the battery pack's service life. Under a 4C charge rate/0.5C discharge rate and 50% depth of discharge, the modeling results indicate the battery pack has a service life of approximately 6,000 h at low temperatures (25°C) and roughly 3,000 h at high temperatures (60°C). The model has been validated by comparing the results with experimental data from the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relentless expansion of urban populations and the surge in e-commerce have increased the demand for rapid delivery services, leading to an increase in truck traffic that contributes to urban congestion, environmental pollution, and economic inefficiencies. The critical challenge this poses is not only in managing urban spaces efficiently but also in aligning with global sustainability goals. This study addresses the pressing need for innovative solutions to reduce reliance on truck transportation in congested urban areas without compromising the efficiency of freight delivery systems. This study contributes a novel approach that leverages electrified and autonomous aircraft (EAA) cargo shuttles to shift the bulk of air transportable freight from road to air, specifically targeting underutilized airports and establishing vertiports in remote locations. By applying data mining techniques to analyze freight flow data, this research identifies key commodity categories and metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) where the implementation of EAA services could significantly mitigate truck-induced congestion. The findings reveal that targeting a select few commodities and MSAs can potentially decrease truck traffic, with electronics emerging as the dominant commodity category, and cities like Los Angeles and Chicago as prime candidates for initial EAA service deployment. Stakeholders in urban planning, transportation logistics, and environmental policy will find this study's insights beneficial. This work lays a foundation for future innovations in sustainable urban mobility and logistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cold chain logistics are crucial for reducing agricultural product loss, yet the environmental impact of energy and packaging consumption, among others, demands attention, making the search for eco-friendly development modes essential. Based on data from 30 provinces in China from 2015 to 2021, this study analyzes the basic correlation between the development of cold chain logistics of fresh agricultural products (CCLFAP) and the ecological environment (EE) by using a random forest regression model in comparison with the XGBoost model. Correlation heatmaps were used to analyze the relationships between the cold chain logistics of fresh agricultural products and various factors of the ecological environment. The generalized additive model was then used to establish the connection between cold chain logistics and the ecological environment, identifying significant factors impacting EE. The results demonstrate that a higher development level of cold chain logistics corresponds to a better development trend of EE. The economic efficiency and technical aspects of cold chain logistics for fresh agricultural products are closely related to ecological pressures and responses. The number of employees in the logistics industry, the trading volume of fresh agricultural products, the number of refrigerated vehicles, and the capacity of the cold room have significant positive correlations with the ecological environment, while the per capita consumption of fresh agricultural products, the number of cold chain logistics patent applications, and the road density had significant negative correlations with the ecological environment. The effects of the number of cold chain logistics enterprises and the freight turnover of agricultural products transported by the cold chain on the ecological environment fluctuated. These findings contribute to reducing climate and environmental emergencies throughout the life cycle, offering sustainable development solutions for the fresh agricultural product cold chain logistics industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freight transportation is critical to metropolitan regions' economic competitiveness and long-term viability. However, it is one of the activities that produce the most negative externalities, including greenhouse gas emissions. The study of the relationship between freight transportation, land use, and demand management is critical for promoting enlightened policies that increase the social benefits of supply chains while avoiding their undesirable effects, such as climate change. Nonetheless, the tools available to public planners for incorporating freight transportation into their analyses are limited. In this context, this paper aims to highlight the impact that freight demand management strategies and freight-efficient land uses can have on increasing urban freight accessibility. In this study, the authors suggest a freight accessibility framework based on two measures of accessibility (an isochrone-based model and a gravity-based model) to analyze the spatiotemporal variation of freight accessibility in the New York City metropolitan statistical area for four sectors—retail trade, accommodation and food services, transportation and warehousing, and e-commerce. The results indicate that accessibility measures provide valuable insights towards policymaking, particularly to policies that target land use (e.g., location of warehouses), and policies that aim to shift the traffic of freight vehicles to periods with less traffic congestion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Named Data Networking (NDN) has emerged as a promising architecture to overcome the limitations of the conventional Internet Protocol (IP) architecture, particularly in terms of mobility, security, and data availability. However, despite the advantages it offers, producer mobility management remains a significant challenge for NDN, especially for moving vehicles and emerging technologies such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), known for their high-speed and unpredictable movements, which makes it difficult for NDN to maintain seamless communication. To solve this mobility problem, we propose a Distributed Mobility Management Scheme (DMMS) to support UAV mobility and ensure low-latency content delivery in NDN architecture. DMMS utilizes decentralized Anchors to forward proactively the consumer's Interest packets toward the producer's predicted location when handoff occurs. Moreover, it introduces a new forwarding approach that combines the standard and location-based forwarding strategy to improve forwarding efficiency under producer mobility without changing the network structure. Using a realistic scenario, DMMS is evaluated and compared against two well-known solutions, namely MAP-ME and Kite, using the ndnSIM simulations. We demonstrate that DMMS achieves better results compared to Kite and MAP-ME solutions in terms of network cost and consumer quality-of-service metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time‐sensitive networking (TSN) is considered one of the most promising solutions to address real‐time scheduling in in‐vehicle network due to its capabilities for providing deterministic service. The TSN working group proposed various traffic shaping mechanisms, while deterministic scheduling of hybrid traffic is still not effectively solved since the traffic requirements are difficult to satisfy by standalone or combined mechanisms with fixed time slot divisions. This article presents a time‐aware multi‐cyclicqueuing and forwarding scheduling model, that integrates the no‐wait enabled time‐aware shaper and multi‐cyclic queuing and forwarding shaping models. Then, a scheduling solution, dubbed "TSN scheduling optimizer" (TSO) is proposed that combines optimization methods and incremental techniques. TSO aims to balance the load to maximize flow schedulability while guaranteeing the service requirements of hybrid traffic. Simulation evaluations through OMNeT++ provide a performance assessment of this proposed scheduling model, which can satisfy multiple types of traffic transmission requirements. Furthermore, TSO is compared with other baseline scheduling solutions, and TSO shows efficacy regarding execution time and schedulability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a strategic pillar of the Asian economic trade partnership, the logistics industry is a source of significant industrial relevance and specifically targeted CO2 emission initiatives. Therefore, in order to address the potential environmental risks that are associated with existing Asian free trade agreements and achieve global mitigation targets, it is imperative that one evaluates both the performance of the logistic sector and the factors that drive carbon emissions. As such, our research analyses 16 countries both the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, from one of the largest emerging global trade partnerships in Asia, and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. The results of which act as an important guide in how the green logistic service sector can be driven in emerging economies. In order to conduct this analysis, a balanced panel dataset from 2007 to 2018 is employed and estimated using Generalized Least Square and the Generalized Method of Moments regression approaches, with the issues of cross-sectional dependence, unit-root, stationarity, and cointegration also checked. The results revealed that economic growth, foreign direct investment inflows, and international trade positively affect logistics performance. In addition, improved logistics services, a hassle-free customs clearance process, and the frequency of shipments reduce transport CO2 emissions by 0.177%, 0.026%, and 0.014%, respectively. These findings suggest that renewable energy sources may alleviate the detrimental impact of logistics services on low-carbon transportation and spur economic action with substantial international trade opportunities available. This study hypothetically proposes and verifies a new dimension for two variables: international trade (export–import goods) and transport CO2 emissions. The lessons drawn from the study assist policymakers and stakeholders in rethinking the roles of green logistics infrastructure in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, the effects of the adoption of socially interactive technologies (SIT) for shipping service in ocean freight forwarding on employees' anxiety and job performance are investigated by adopting the decomposed theory of planned behaviour model. Seven constructs are established from the literature review. Furthermore, the research data and hypotheses examined are analysed using the structural equation modelling approach. The results reveal that perceived usefulness, perceived presence, subject norms, and perceived ease of use are positively related to the adoption of SIT in shipping services, whereas the adoption of SIT is positively related to employees' job performance and the technology anxiety of using SIT in shipping services is negatively related to employees' job performance for ocean freight forwarders. Moreover, gender, age, and department have significant moderating effects in the model. The impact of technology anxiety on job performance was stronger on inside female staff than outside male sales representatives, whereas the impact of perceived useful and subjective norms on adoption was stronger on the older and inner groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]