Combining simulation and optimization to improve LTL traffic

This paper presents an innovative approach to improve sustainability of road transportation by reducing C02 emissions by enhancing process efficiency in logistic nodes in combination with intelligent vehicle routing in urban areas. The combination of discrete event simulation and mathematical optimization approaches enables to analyze processes in logistics nodes and to optimize vehicle routing. The thereby improved utilization of internal and external resources impacts economic and ecological performance indicators. To evaluate the potential of the approach it is applied on a real world scenario of a logistics service provider for LTL.