Saving Our Energy Sources and Meeting Kyoto Emission Reduction Targets While Minimizing Costs with Application of Vehicle Logistics Optimization

Transportation operations and logistics is an area that can be used to help ensure a sustainable and environmentally friendly transportation system in Canada. This study focuses on the estimation of emission reduction benefits and the potential energy savings that can be realized with logistics optimization, particularly those resulting from computerized vehicle routing and scheduling (VRS) of pickups and deliveries at a trucking terminal. The objective of this research was to quantify the benefits and potential efficiency gains in terms of emission reduction with computerized VRS optimization (CVRSO) implementation by making a comparative analysis between different CVRSO methods and existing manual VRS methods. After setting up the CVRSO system, different optimization criteria were used and it was found that, in addition to significant cost savings, a significant benefit in terms of a reduction in energy use and corresponding pollution reduction is achieved by minimizing operational costs (by combining fixed costs and both distance-related and time-related costs, and optimizing the routing and scheduling for the fleet of vehicles). The results showed that it is possible, in some cases, to achieve up to 40% reduction in energy consumption and related emissions by implementing CVRSO within the trucking industry. To help meet the emission reduction targets to which Canada agreed by ratifying the Kyoto protocol, and to save and use our energy sources more efficiently, all levels of government and transportation engineers should take more of a proactive role to promote the implementation of such systems within the trucking industry by making such systems more convenient, practical, and realistic to be used by the transportation companies. These emission reductions and energy savings can be achieved while at the same time providing direct economic gains to the transportation industry and the general economy. Key Words: Emission reduction, Meeting Kyoto target, Commercial vehicle optimization, Vehicle routing and scheduling, Vehicle logistics optimization.