Modelling operational decision-making in freight transport chains

Paper in proceeding, 2006

The decisions taken by logistics services buyers, e.g., definition of consignment size, arri-val time at the consignee and type of logistics service provider, are obviously the basis for the economic, quality and environmental performance of freight transport chains. These outcomes of freight transport chains are important to predict and simulation is claimed to be appropriate for evaluating the outcome of different strategies or control policies. Deci-sion-making strategies which are used in practice are also included in simulation models and the effects of different strategies can consequently be evaluated. Therefore, this article reviews simulation and modelling approaches relevant for capturing the effects of decision-making of transport chain actors. The decision-making in transport chains is complex and difficult to generalise as well as capture with simulation. To give a structured overview of the decision-making, the context and the prerequisites, i.e., the conditions for when certain types of decisions are possible to make, the actors in transport chains and their relationships are elaborated on. The result of the study is a structured overview of the operational decision-making of ac-tors, how it is modelled in the literature and which modelling characteristics that seems important to consider.