Research On Hub Location-Allocation In Intermodal Logistics Networks

In recent years, with the development of the world economic globalization and international transport of goods become more frequent, the logistics network which only provides a single mode of transportation has been unable to meet the global operation mode. The competitive marketplace requires an efficient and effective logistics strategy. Such a strategy aims at managing shipments across geographically dispersed supply and demand areas within a reasonable time and at a competitive cost. Intermodal logistics network provides a feasible solution to achieve this goal. The hub is an important part of intermodal logistics network; different modes of transportation can be achieved within the hub. Therefore, reasonable intermodal hub location can not only promote the coordination of the transport system, but also improve the economic efficiency of logistics service providers and the whole intermodal logistic networks, thus promoting the economic development of the entire region.Firstly, based on intermodal hub location problem, this paper describes concepts and development process of intermodal hub, combined with existing hub location literature, research methods are determined. This research develops a mathematical hub location model with the lowest total cost as the objective function. The model encompasses the dynamics of individual modes of transportation through service time requirements, transportation costs, also joined the interface between three different modes of transport, modal connectivity costs and multiple commodities.Secondly, through analysis of the features of the model, a tabu search algorithm is selected to solve the problem. This paper describes ideas for solving the model in detail, and subdivides the solving process into global diversified search stage, locally enhanced search stage, then designs the main parameters, such as encoding, stopping criteria, fitness function, and aspiration level, to speed up the algorithm convergence.Finally, a computational example is designed to evaluate validity of the model and the designed algorithm. Then the results are analyzed in the following aspects:the number of hubs, the location of hubs detail, transportation path and so on.