Three papers on reducing the environmental impact of freight transportation and logistics / Francis M. Vanek.

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Microformat

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Vanek, Francis M.

Contributor:

Morlok, Edward K., advisor.

University of Pennsylvania.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Penn dissertations--Systems engineering.

Systems engineering--Penn dissertations.

Local Subjects:

Penn dissertations--Systems engineering.

Systems engineering--Penn dissertations.

Physical Description:

xiv, 277 pages : illustrations ; 29 cm

Production:

1998.

Summary:

In the current climate of ever increasing commercial interaction within and between the nations of the world, freight transportation and logistics activities are significant contributors to environmental impacts such as degradation of air quality, disturbance of communities and natural habitat, and global climate change. Furthermore, the rapid growth of freight compared to other types of activities and the potential for dramatic growth in a glamorized economy increase the incentives to develop impact reduction policies. Two important gaps in the research on the impact of freight transportation are addressed in this research, namely disappreciation of freight by commodity, and spatial analysis of freight patterns. First, engineering activity modeling is used to analyze the environmental impact of freight both by mode and by commodity (Paper I). Thereafter, the spatial distribution of freight patterns in the network is analyzed for an example commodity group, namely pulp and paper. This analysis includes using linear programming to estimate physical lower bounds on reducing average length of haul (Paper II), and using gravity modeling and bilevel programming techniques to model the effect of changing policy variables (Paper III). These analyses were carried out in all three papers at the national level, using data from the 1993 United States Commodity Flow Survey. The results show that commodity groups vary widely in freight energy use, intensity, and growth trends, and that when flows of specific groups are optimized at the national level using the commodity-specific freight characteristics, the physical potential for reducing environmental impact by shortening average length of haul may be quite substantial for many of these groups. On the other hand, achieving this physical potential in practice may require policies aimed simultaneously at the production as well as transportation sides of supply chains, since these systems may respond only minimally to policies aimed at the transportation side in isolation. In summary, curbing the rapid growth in environmental impact from freight poses a daunting challenge; therefore, new avenues for policy development opened up in this research are worthy of further pursuit.

Notes:

Supervisor: Edward K. Morlok.

Thesis (Ph.D. in Systems Engineering) -- University of Pennsylvania, 1998.

Includes bibliographical references.

Local Notes:

University Microfilms order no.: 98-30003.

OCLC:

187471018