An integrated framework for freight forwarders:exploitation of dynamic information for multimodal transportation

Advent of real-time information broadcasting technologies, growth in demand for air-cargo, and increased congestion and variability on air-road network, are the main forces compelling today\u27s air-freight forwarders to improve their operational decision-making to be more competitive and responsive to needs of customers. This research studies the air-cargo transportation on both road (short-haul) and air (long haul) network from the perspective of a mid-size freight forwarder. We develop a routing algorithm for congestion avoidance on air-network based on historical data and introduce an innovative approach to incorporate real-time information to enable dynamic routing of cargo on a stochastic air-network. In the road network, we introduce a new class of pickup and delivery problems to carry out the customer load pickups, fleet management, cargo-to-flight assignments, and airport deliveries in a multiple airport region under alternative access airport policy. The main contributions of this research to the air-cargo literature are the study of the value of real-time information and introduction of the concept of dynamic air-cargo routing. In addition, this is the first study that provides an operational framework to implement the alternative access airport policy. This research also contributes to operations research and logistics literature by introducing a new class of pickup and deliveries with time-sensitive and pair-dependent cost structure. It also contributes an innovative algorithm based on successive subproblem solving for Lagrangian decomposed mixed integer programming that shows to be efficient in obtaining near optimal solutions in reasonable time. The performances of the algorithms presented in this research are tested through experimental and real-world case studies. The results demonstrate that dynamic routing with real-time information can dramatically improve delivery reliability and reduce expected cost on the air-network. Moreover, they confirm that alternative access airport policy can greatly enhance a forwarder\u27s options and reduce the operational and service costs while improving the service levels

Methodologies and Techniques for Determining the Value of an Aircraft

Aircraft valuation and the estimation of an accurate aircraft price is undoubtedly a challenging task that has significant consequences for airlines. This paper presents an asset valuation model to show how a series of endogenous as well as exogenous factors can influence the value of an aircraft. Specifically, a discounted cash flow methodology is used to forecast the valuation of an old or new generation aircraft. Both total operating revenue and aircraft operating costs are taken into account to devise a reliable pre-tax profit measurement that is used as the basis of the discounted cash flow analysis. A sensitivity analysis based on Monte Carlo simulation is utilized to identify which factors have a more significant influence on the suggested aircraft value. Therefore, it addresses how value fluctuates in response to economic fluctuations. Indeed, the calculated value of an aircraft highly depends on the underlying assumptions used. The calculated value is compared with available data in a case study for verification

Utilizing the Power of Games in Enhancing Student Learning

Teaching through simulation, games and class activities.https://commons.erau.edu/db-itl-week/1010/thumbnail.jp