Research On The Optimization For Inland Collection And Distribution System Of Containers Under Uncertain Demand

The rapid development of container transportation puts forward higher require-ments for the collecting and distributing ability of the entire transport system, which includes container marine transport system, container terminal operation facilities, and container inland collecting and distributing system. Among them, container inland collecting and distributing system is composed of transport mode and facilities, which is not only the continuation and extension of shipping system on shore, but also the bridge combining container terminal and inland cities. The freight demand originated from the inland hinterland is affected by many factors, resulting in an obvious degree of uncertainty in different periods. Therefore, allocating cargo flow under the context of uncertain transport demand will improve the level of transportation system further after getting the optimal cargo allocation scheme, and reduce the cost of transportation process and offer rational guidance for the betterment of collecting and distributing system.To begin with, this thesis analyzed the content of container inland collecting and distributing system and the functions of each element in the system. Based on the structure analysis, it established inland collecting and distributing network and confirms the object of study. Then through contrastive analysis about three methods to deal with uncertain variables, it took in stochastic optimization method. Next, by dividing the planning period into a number of small cycles, it made statistics analysis of the freight demand in each small cycle and gained the distribution regularities. For the optimization problem of container inland transportation system, it put forward the cargo allocation approach based on uncertain demands, and established a stochastic chance-constrained programming model with the goal of minimizing total transport cost. Thus, the optimal cargo allocation scheme is obtained by solving the numerical example. Meanwhile, the effectiveness and applicability of the model was proved by comparing the cargo demands that can be satisfied under certain conditions. Finally, considering the future developing trend, it studied the cargo distribution ratio changes in transportation mode, direct line and transfer line, ports and inland container depot under different transportation conditions by releasing constraints. Therefore, it provides directional advice for further improving the inland collecting and distributing ability and offers reference for policymakers to make decisions of planning and construction.