Research On Optimization Of Empty Container Repositioning Problem Based On Sharing Economy

With the process of economic globalization and trade integration,container transportation has become the main means of transportation for international trade.However,the cost of empty container repositioning accounts for a large proportion in the operating cost of container transportation.In order to obtain more profit,liner companies can solve the problem of high empty repositioning costs by resources sharing,strengthening cooperation and improving resource utilization,thus reducing costs scientifically.This paper introduces the process of empty container transfer and analyzes the causes of empty containers.Based on the concept of sharing economy,an empty container transport mode are proposed.Firstly,an empty container repositioning resource sharing platform is built to provide empty containers and shipping space for members.Then,the platform will charge a certain platform fee from resource demanders.This paper identifies four ways that liner companies can transfer empty containers based on resource sharing platforms,namely,using their own ships to transport empty containers,using other companies’ ships to transfer empty containers,borrowing other companies’ idle empty containers and renting them from third-party container leasing companies.Secondly,taking into account of such limitations as capacity constraints,flow restrictions,and empty container storage capacity,with the goal of minimizing the cost of obtaining empty containers by members of the sharing economy in the decision-making period,an optimization model for empty container transportation within the sharing economy is established.Then,the model is solved based on simulated annealing algorithm,and the coding method,initial population generation strategy,new individual generation strategy and individual repair strategy are designed according to the characteristics of the problem and model.Finally,the effectiveness of the model and algorithm are verified by comparing and analyzing the cost of the shared and non-shared modes,which proves that the empty container re-positioning mode based on the sharing economy concept can save the cost of the entire shared economy.Based on the research results of many scholars,this paper not only makes up for the insufficiency of applying sharing economy concepts to relevant researches such as container transportation,but also provides decision support for the establishment of sharing economic platforms and empty container repositioning.