Final Report

WebShipCost - Intermodal Transportation Linkage

Cost Assessment Via the WWW

Project: MBTC 2024

Submitted to:

The Mack-Blackwell Transportation Center

Date: 7/27/2004

Contact:

Manuel D. Rossetti, Ph.D., P.E. Assistant Professor Department of Industrial Engineering University of Arkansas 4207 Bell Engineering Center Fayetteville, AR 72701 Phone: (479) 575 - 6756 Fax: (479) 575 - 8431 Email: rossetti@uark.edu

Heather Nachtmann, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Industrial Engineering University of Arkansas 4207 Bell Engineering Center Fayetteville, AR 72701 Phone: (479) 575 - 5857 Fax: (479) 575 - 8431 Email: hln@uark.edu

Table of Contents

1 Introduction. 4

2 Background. 6

2.1 ShipCost Overview.. 6

2.2 ShipCost Cost and Time Data. 9

2.2.1 Distances. 9

2.2.2 Transportation Rates. 9

2.2.2.1 Barge Transportation Rate. 9

2.2.2.2 Rail Transportation Rate. 10

2.2.2.3 Truck Transportation Rate. 10

2.2.3 Drayage Costs and Lengths. 11

2.2.3.1 Truck-to-Barge Drayage Cost/Length. 11

2.2.3.2 Truck-to-Rail Drayage Cost 12

2.2.4 Average Mode Speeds. 12

2.2.5 Transfer Costs and Time. 13

2.2.5.1 Barge Transfer Cost and Time. 13

2.2.5.2 Truck / Rail Transfer Cost and Time. 13

2.2.6 Inventory Holding Costs. 14

2.3 Relevant Literature. 15

2.4 Summary of Nucor Report 17

3 WebShipCost Application. 19

3.1 Use Case Models. 19

3.2 Conceptual Model Diagrams. 21

3.2.1 Intermodal Transshipment Data Model 22

3.2.2 Web Interaction Model 25

3.3 Database Design. 26

3.4 Algorithm Processing. 27

3.4.1 Graph Building Processing. 27

3.4.2 K^th Shortest Path Algorithm Implementation. 33

3.5 Web Application Architecture and Implementation. 36

3.6 Testing Results. 37

4 Summary.