Safe and Resilient Logistics and Mobility Interventions for Supply Chain Workers in the New Normal Era

疫情凸显了货物流动对加拿大经济和加拿大人福祉的重要性。在最近的经济停滞期间，安大略高速公路的总行程下降了约40%，但货运量几乎保持稳定，并继续提供医院、杂货店、加油站和主要配送中心（MDC）等基本服务。拟议的研究旨在制定一套先发制人的运输战略，称为流动性干预措施，以尽量减少卡车司机和MDC工人之间的传染病传播，并改善紧急情况下的运输物流。这项研究在今天具有价值，在我们考虑未来可能发生的公共紧急事件（如受污染的食品/水供应传播的传染病）的影响时也很重要。拟议的研究应有助于电子商务、供应链和物流行业提高货物交付的安全性、可靠性和弹性，同时保持最重要的整体考虑：公共卫生。该研究的五年目标是：1）制定一个科学的程序，以确定在大规模公共紧急事件之前和期间首选卡车休息设施的变化; 2）制定一个数学算法，以筛选MDCs并预测进出MDCs的交通流量模式; 3）为确定的卡车休息设施/设施制定一个先发制人的资源分配模型; 4）开发一个数学模型，以优先提供卡车休息设施; 5）开发一个模型，以确定和优先考虑公共交通路线最重要的MDC通勤者谁通勤; 6）开发一个使用多目标优化技术的模型，以确定公共紧急情况下的最佳公交服务; 7）制定物理距离指标，以定量评估MDC工作人员通过主动交通工具通勤的相对传染病传播风险; 8）分析911呼叫数据，以调查重大公共突发事件在重大健康危机期间对货运、供应链和物流的影响。建议的研究有许多好处，包括：1）为电子商务/物流公司确定重要的机会，以提高他们的竞争力，并通过提供更健康和更安全的交付体验来改善客户体验和信心; 2）通过最大限度地减少重大公共紧急事件期间的业务关闭，提高整个供应链的整体效率; 3）使管理当局能够对货运业采取流动性干预措施，以适应日益增长的电子商务; 4）加强货运业的竞争力和信心，帮助加拿大经济复苏; 5）为HQP提供与领域专业人员互动的独特机会，以获得所需的技能，为工作做好准备，并促进加拿大劳动力的公平，多样性和包容性。

The pandemic has highlighted the importance of goods movements to the Canadian economy and to the well-being of Canadians. During the recent economic shutdown, total trips on Ontario highways declined by about 40%, but freight traffic remained almost steady and continued to supply essential services such as hospitals, groceries, gas stations, and major distribution centres (MDCs). The proposed research is designed to develop a set of pre-emptive transportation strategies, called mobility interventions, to minimize the spread of communicable disease among truck drivers and MDC workers, and to improve transport logistics in emergencies. This research has value today and is also important when we consider the impact of future possible public emergencies such as communicable disease spread by a contaminated food/water supply. The proposed research should help the e-commerce, supply chain and logistics industries to improve the safety, reliability and resilience of freight delivery while maintaining the most important overall consideration: public health. The study's five-year objectives are: 1) Develop a scientific process to identify changes in preferred truck rest facilities before and during large-scale public emergencies; 2) Develop a mathematical algorithm to screen MDCs and predict traffic flow patterns to/from MDCs; 3) Develop a pre-emptive resource allocation model for the truck rest facilities/amenities identified; 4) Develop a mathematical model to prioritize the provision of truck rest facilities; 5) Develop a model to identify and prioritize the public transit routes most important to MDC commuters who commute by transit; 6) Develop a model using multi-objective optimization techniques to determine optimal transit services during a public emergency; 7) Develop physical distancing indicators to provide a quantitative evaluation of the relative risk of communicable disease transmission among MDC workers who commute by active transportation; and 8) Analyze 911 call data to investigate the impact of major public emergencies on freight transportation, supply chains and logistics during a major health crisis. The proposed research has many benefits including: 1) Identifying important opportunities for e-commerce/logistics companies to increase their competitiveness and to improve customer experience and confidence by providing healthier and safer delivery experiences; 2) Improving the overall efficiency of the entire supply chain by minimizing business closures during major public emergencies; 3) Enabling governing authorities to introduce mobility interventions for the freight industry to accommodate increased e-commerce; 4) Strengthening the competitiveness and confidence of freight industry and help the recovery of Canadian economy; and 5) Providing a unique opportunity for HQPs to interact with domain professionals to gain the needed skill sets to become job-ready and to promote the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Canadian Workforce.