Interactive Optimization Improves Service and Performance for Yellow Freight System

John W. Braklow, William W. Graham, Stephen M. Hassler, Ken E. Peck and Warren B. Powell
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John W. Braklow: Operations Planning, Yellow Freight System, Inc., Overland Park, Kansas 66207
William W. Graham: Operations Planning, Yellow Freight System, Inc., Overland Park, Kansas 66207
Stephen M. Hassler: Operations Planning, Yellow Freight System, Inc., Overland Park, Kansas 66207
Ken E. Peck: Operations Planning, Yellow Freight System, Inc., Overland Park, Kansas 66207
Warren B. Powell: Department of Civil Engineering and Operations Research, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544

Interfaces, 1992, vol. 22, issue 1, 147-172

Abstract: Yellow Freight System has evolved from a regional motor carrier to one of the largest less-than-truckload motor carriers, handling over 15 million shipments annually over a network of 630 terminals. As the company grew, terminal managers in the field lacked the information that would allow them to coordinate their activities around the network. We developed a large-scale interactive optimization system called SYSNET to optimize the routing of shipments and design of the network. SYSNET has allowed Yellow to evaluate and implement basic operating strategies that run counter to decades of standard practice. In addition to substantial cost savings, SYSNET has improved Yellow's overall planning responsiveness in a changing business environment. But the far more important statistic to Yellow's 300,000 regular shipping customers has been the significant improvement in both transit times and service reliability.

Keywords: transportation/road; networks/graphs: applications (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1992
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