Stochastic Optimization Models for Capacity Planning and Allocation in Freight Transportation Services

交通运输活动是现代社会经济增长的核心。通过多个供应链有效地将货物从原产地运输到目的地的能力对于确保企业和社会的有效运作至关重要。随着经济的日益全球化，无论是从财务角度还是从环境角度来看，运输业务都变得越来越复杂，成本也越来越高。因此，非常需要开发优化方法，使物流决策者能够更有效地解决运输规划问题。ClearDestination（或ClearD）是一家位于蒙特里萨的创新公司，在这种送货上门的方法开发方面处于**前沿。具体来说，ClearD设计了各种方法（即预测和优化模型），使送货上门过程能够有效和自动规划。他们现在提供了一个技术平台，可以在这个平台上进行运力规划，以改善由不同托运人运输的货物如何由一系列提供不同服务的承运人在长途走廊上运输。目前，这种容量规划是使用确定性优化方法进行的，这种方法可以低估各种不确定性来源可能对规划过程产生的负面影响。通过与**随机优化领域的权威专家Walter Rei教授（UQÀM）的合作，clearard将开发一种新颖的随机优化方法，明确考虑影响规划过程的各种不确定性来源，并找到更好的整体解决方案。拟议的方法将使作出的决定能够更好地对冲可能的风险（高延误和运输成本），并提高所有有关组织（托运人和承运人）的利润率。

Transportation activities are at the core of the economic growth of modern societies. The capacity to efficiently**transport freight from origins to destinations through multiple supply chains is paramount to ensure that both**businesses and societies function efficiently. As economies become more and more globalized, transportation**operations have become increasingly more complex and costly, both from a financial and environmental**perspective. Therefore, there is a great need to develop optimization methodologies that enable transportation**planning problems to be more efficiently solved by logistics decision-makers. ClearDestination (or ClearD) is**an innovative company based in Montréal that is at the forefront of such methodological development for the**home-delivery market. Specifically, ClearD has designed various methodologies (i.e., predictive and**optimization models) that enable home delivery processes to be efficiently and automatically planned. They**now offer a technological platform where capacity planning can be performed to improve how freight, that is**required to be moved by various shippers, is transported by a series of carriers, offering different services, over**a long-haul corridor. Presently, this capacity planning is performed using a deterministic optimization**approach, which can underestimate the negative effects that various sources of uncertainty may have on the**planning process. Through this new partnership with Professor Walter Rei (UQÀM), a leading expert in**stochastic optimization, ClearD will develop a novel stochastic optimization method that explicitly considers**the various sources of uncertainty affecting the planning process and finds better overall solutions. The**proposed methodology will enable decisions to be made that better hedge against possible risks (high delays**and transportation costs) and improve profit margins for all organizations involved (shippers and carriers).