Transport resource requirement

The basic method of assessing the road freight transport resources required for a given operation necessitates some very detailed and time-consuming analysis.

This is the case whether the method adopted is a manual one or whether one of the many computer routing and scheduling packages is used. Basically, it is necessary to identify specific delivery route requirements (routing) and then calculate from these how many vehicles and drivers are required to undertake the operation (scheduling). Computerized systems for fleet planning and operations are used to help determine basic transport resource requirements but are also used to maximize the utilization and effectiveness of a given set of resources (e.g. an existing fleet of vehicles).

In summary, there are two key areas: 1) determining initial fleet resource requirements; an 2) identifying effective vehicle schedules using an existing fleet. These may have different implications according to the type of road transport operation that is being considered. The major use of these packages is for secondary delivery or local delivery. Here, vehicle routing and scheduling are concerned with the efficient organization of road transport delivery to the final customer or retail outlet. Many large manufacturing, retailing and distribution companies have logistics structures with many depots spread across large geographic areas. Each depot will be responsible for supplying customers within a given region, that is, within the depot boundary.

This supply of products from a depot is often undertaken by a fleet of delivery vehicles that vary in size and capacity. Equally important, the particular demand for products from the depot may vary day by day and week by week.

The two main problems are, therefore, to try to minimize the number of vehicles that are needed to achieve this, and to deliver this variable amount of goods and products as efficiently as possible. 'Efficiency' in this instance can be to maximize the amount of product moved on the vehicles and minimize vehicle mileage. It is principally about providing a balance between supplying an adequate service to customers on the one hand and doing so at an acceptable cost on the other.

Other types of transport operation may also benefit from a similar approach to resource utilization, but the means of achieving this may require additional or different requirements. Two examples are primary or trucking (line-haul) operations, which generally involve just one point of delivery for each vehicle, and stockless depot or demountable operations, which require a single stock-holding base plus additional stockless distribution points.

From the viewpoint of a depot manager or transport operator, objectives for local delivery can be stated quite simply as follows: to plan journeys for vehicles operating from a single depot, delivering known loads to specific customers and returning to the depot after completing the journey.

A fairly general definition of the aim of vehicle routing and scheduling has already been outlined. For an existing fleet, this can be summarized as the 'best' use of vehicles when providing a particular delivery service (known as the 'optimization' of vehicle usage). There are, however, a number of different ways in which this can be achieved, and any or all of these maybe acceptable objectives for vehicle routing and scheduling, depending on the particular transport operation concerned.

 

b. Explain the following terms in English:

1. drop point	2. unit load
3. local delivery	4. full load
5. delivery point	6. cost reduction
7. backload	8. to outsource
9. final customer	10. handling
11. delivery window	12. stockroom
13. routing	14. fleet
15. depot	16. mileage

c. Find synonyms to the following words in the paragraph “Secondary transport”:

1. embrace	2. shop
3. market	4. rise
5. key	6. discharging
7. significant	8. basic
9. limited	10. guarantee
11. essential	12. comprehend
13. correct	14. correlation

d. Match the following words to make word combinations:

1. supply	a) load
2. full	b) routing
3. delivery	c) outlet
4. vehicle	d) operator
5. retail	e) window
6. transport	f) service
7. to provide	g) chain