Sailing Route and Speed Optimization for Green Intermodal Transportation

We study a third party logistics company, who uses highway and maritime transportation to deliver a set of commodities from their origins at their release times to their destinations no later than their deadlines. The paper aims to optimize sailing routes and speeds for these commodities by trucks and scheduled maritime services while minimizing the total cost and carbon emissions. We propose a bi-objective non-linear programming model, then develop a new algorithm to solve this model by combining the E -constraint method and a fuzzy logic method. A set of Pareto solutions can be obtained by the former, meanwhile optimal solutions according to the preferences of decision makers can be selected by the fuzzy logic method. Finally, analysis based on a case study from road-sea intermodal transportation in China shows the potential benefits. The results of a computational study indicate that the proposed model and method can give optimal sailing routes and speeds for decision makers.