Issues in full truckload transport optimization

Transport is a field of management where efficiency is the result of various factors, largely external to transport entities and independent of them. The influence of these factors makes the planning and execution of transport processes, and especially the optimization of operational decisions, a very difficult task. Another significant factor is the complexity of transport processes. On the other hand, this very complexity poses a challenge for sciences and disciplines involved in solving optimization problems. However, is it possible to develop effective, scientific methods for solving such problems? It is difficult to answer this question unequivocally.

Transport is a rather specific and difficult activity from an organizational point of view. There are non-linear relationships between the decisions made and the efficiency of transport processes, which are difficult to represent using mathematical models.

Without such models, mathematical formulas, and algorithms, optimization software cannot function. And the use of modern technologies to optimize decisions is one of the most important goals of developing such methods. For this reason, intuitive methods are used in practice, which allows, if not for finding the best solution, at least for choosing a satisfactory one in a shorter time.

The application of optimization methods is often conditional upon meeting specific requirements; sometimes – it must be noted – simplifying conditions. Such an approach to seeking optimal solutions raises suspicions of creating useless, theoretical (in the colloquial, negative sense) knowledge that is not useful in practical business operations. A question arises here, which will not be developed in this article because it is a separate topic, namely: do optimization methods and models always have to perfectly reflect the reality in which companies operate? Simplifications allow for the use of simpler and less labor-intensive methods, which may be justified if the solutions obtained do not actually deviate significantly from the best results. Such simplifications are also used by practitioners precisely because of the aforementioned labor-intensiveness and time-consuming nature of decision-making. Undoubtedly, however, these conditions should be taken into account to a greater or lesser extent, and this requirement also applies to one of the most well-known transport optimization problems.

The so-called “transportation problem” or “transport task” or “transport issue” has been described for many years in literature in fields such as operations research, linear programming, as well as transport economics and logistics. This method has various variations: closed transportation problem, open transportation problem, transport-production problem, minimization of empty runs. Briefly, this problem can be defined as follows: an optimal transport plan for connections between a specific number of recipients and a specific number of suppliers must be developed (Table 1). It is assumed that these are homogeneous loads, so recipients are not limited to, for example, one supplier, but can choose from all available ones.