Study On Scheduling Game Problems Considering Carriers And Shippers

Ocean container shipping plays a very important role in the economic development of the world. Two key individuals are carrier and shipper in ocean shipping. The paper studies scheduling game problems considering carriers and shippers.In the face of fierce competition, carriers are looking for feasible ways to decrease operational cost. As a result, this can greatly increase their revenue and improve their competitive ability. People from both theoretical and pratical fields pay more and more attention to container shipping. Route optimization, empty container repositioning and container slot allocation are the three hot problems.We study the above problems based on the theory of system optimization and cooperative game. Details are as follows.(1) Study on scheduling game of route optimization problems. Traditional studies only consider the transportation cost of carrier. We consider the alliance of carrier and shippers, choose the transportation cost of carrier and the time cost of shippers as the optimization objective, and try to decrease the whole cost of the alliance by effectively adjust the service order of shippers. So, in a sense, it's also a route optimization problem. We adopt the classical revenue division rule-core to build the cooperative game model. The equal gain splitting rule we presented can prove the convexity of the game as well as the unempty property of core. So each member of the coalition can achieve reasonable revenue by joining the coalition. As a result, the coalition is stalbe.(2)Study on ocean empty container scheduling game problems. At first, we illustrate the reasons and present measures of empty container repositioning. Then, based on repositioning cost, inventory cost and renting cost, we build the empty container scheduling model for single carrier. Next, for multiple carriers with cooperation of each other, we present the corresponding model. The key remaining problem is how to divide the cost saving among coalition members. Here we apply Shapley Value andτValue, which are also very famous in revenue dividing field. This can ensure each member gets fair and reasonable revenue.(3) Study on scheduling game of container slot allocation problems in liner transportation. In hot season of domestic shipping, container slot becomes scare resource. We focus on how to allocate the limited slots among shippers with urgent demand. Besides carrier and shippers, forwarders are also considered. Based on the possible penalty cost of shippers, we establish the optimization model, and design heuristic algorithms to solve it. The optimal solution can effectively guide reasonable allocation of slots among shippers. Minimal system cost is calculated and cost saving is divided among forwarders and shippers effectively.From the perspective of system optimization, carriers as well as shippers can make more effective cooperation by enjoying resource jointly. This can help save the social resource greatly. On the other hand, according to effective game division scheme, every member can benefit from joining coalition. And thus, the individuals can save cost and become more competitive. Besides, the mathematic models for each hot problem, the algorithms we presented, as well as the conclusions we draw from case sdudies or numerical experiments, can provide dicision support for both carriers and shippers.