Garland Chow

Logistics Performance: Definition and Measurement

Concerns the definition and measurement of performance in logistics research. A review of the literature reveals a variety of constraints which make it difficult to draw broad inferences from the literature about the relationship between a given logistics strategy and performance. Discusses low logistics performance has been and could be conceptualized, operationally defined, measured and utilized. The limitations of alternative research designs and performance measures are revealed. Recommendations are made to improve the quality of future research.

Vehicular telematics over heterogeneous wireless networks: A survey

This article presents a survey on vehicular telematics over heterogeneous wireless networks. An advanced heterogeneous vehicular network (AHVN) architecture is outlined which uses multiple access technologies and multiple radios in a collaborative manner. The challenges in designing the essential functional components of AHVN and the corresponding protocols (for radio link control, routing, congestion control, security and privacy, and application development) are discussed and the related work in the literature are reviewed. The open research challenges and several avenues for future research on vehicular telematics over heterogeneous wireless access networks are outlined.

Relationships between inventory, sales and service in a retail chain store operation

Effective inventory management is critical to retailing success. Surprisingly, there is little published empirical research examining relationships between retail inventory, sales and customer service. Based on a survey of 101 chain store units, this paper develops and tests a series of hypotheses about retail inventory. Seventy‐five percent of the store owners/managers responded to the mail survey. As expected, significant positive relationships were found between inventory, service and sales. Specifically, support was found for the theory that inventory is a function of the square root of sales. Also, greater product variety leads to higher inventory, and service level is an exponential function of inventory. Finally, demand uncertainty was found to have no apparent effect on inventory levels.

Total cost/response rate trade-offs in mail survey research: impact of follow-up mailings and monetary incentives

Abstract This article reports results of a mail survey experiment in which several response-inducement methods were manipulated. The experiment assesses the impact of follow-up mailings and monetary incentives on total cost/response rate trade-offs. Experimental findings lead to a number of recommendations for researchers and managers who conduct mail surveys. First, follow-up mailings and monetary incentives should be used to maximize response rate. Second, given a limited budget for survey administration, follow-up mailings are preferred over monetary incentives. Third, if there is limited time for survey administration, monetary incentives may be preferred over follow-up mailings. Finally, follow-up mailings have the added benefit of enabling nonresponse bias estimation.

The application of a neural network approach to predicting bankruptcy risks facing the major US air carriers: 1979–1996

Airline bankruptcy, an unheard of event prior to the deregulation of the US airline industry, has become rather commonplace. Over 123 air carriers have filed receivership since 1982, and several large carriers have sought court protection more than once in the past decade. In spite of record airline profits over the past two years, the financial condition of many carriers still remains fragile. The huge financing requirements of the industry over the next decade, driven by the carriers’ need to replace aging fleets of aircraft, will create further stress for many. The ability to assess the level of this financial stress is important to many groups, including stockholders, bondholders, other creditors, financial analysts, governmental regulatory bodies, and the general public. For this reason, models that can forecast financial distress are useful. Building on prior research by several of the authors, who utilized multiple discriminant models driven by financial ratios, a neural network approach is employed to increase the reliability of the forecasts. In this paper, a neural net is trained with the result that it successfully classifies 26 out of 26 carriers in the holdout (test) set.

E-Business Challenges for Intermodal Freight: Some International Comparisons

Separate Canadian and Australian government-sponsored studies, both reporting in mid-2001, have investigated expected impacts of rapid growth in e-business on transportation infrastructure and services. The different viewpoints of these two studies allow consideration of implications for freight transportation in general and intermodal freight in particular. The findings reported, relating to supply chain changes, special challenges for rail- and sea-freight carriers, and changes in requirements for freight warehousing and interchange, have international relevance, which leads to suggested policy responses. The importance of e-business in affecting freight transportation should not be underestimated. Transportation experts interviewed in the Australian study unanimously considered this the issue of most consequence for transportation over the next 5 to 10 years. Both studies point to freight transportation having significant potential to aid economic growth from e-business and conversely to a lack of appropriate infrastructure to accommodate that growth.

Adaptive Metering Algorithm for Electronic Commercial Vehicle Preclearance Systems

This paper presents an adaptive metering algorithm for enhancing the electronic screening (e-screening) operation at truck weight stations. This algorithm uses a feedback control mechanism to control the level of truck vehicles entering the weight station. The basic operation of the algorithm allows more trucks to be inspected when the weight station is underutilized by adjusting the weight threshold lower. Alternatively, the algorithm restricts the number of trucks to inspect when the station is overutilized to prevent queue spillover. The proposed control concept is demonstrated and evaluated in a simulation environment. The simulation results demonstrate the considerable benefits of the proposed algorithm in improving overweight enforcement with minimal negative impacts on nonoverweighed trucks. The test results also reveal that the effectiveness of the algorithm improves with higher truck participation rates in the e-screening program.

ROAD HAULAGE REGULATION: A COMPARISON OF THE CANADIAN, BRITISH AND AMERICAN APPROACHES

Abstract This paper is concerned with explaining and analysing the differing approaches to regulation of the road haulage (or trucking) industries in Canada, Britain and the United States. This is done at a time when considerable debate is going on in many countries over the most appropriate policies to pursue with regard to this sector. It is hoped that the information and comment contained in this review may offer some useful insights which contribute to this debate. A considerable part of the paper is descriptive in the sense that it looks at the actual method of regulation employed in the three countries and offers some account of recent developments in the policies being pursued. Accompanying this is consideration of the alternative regulatory philosophies and comment upon the effectiveness of the different policies in achieving their objectives.

The AURORA connected vehicle technology testbed

The AURORA Connected Vehicle Technology Testbed is currently being developed at the University of British Columbia with support from Transport Canada and the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative and various other government and private sector organizations and in association with the ACTIVE Connected Vehicle Testbed at the University of Alberta. AURORAs mission is to provide Canadian researchers, developers, manufacturers and policymakers engaged in the application, deployment and advancement of connected vehicle technology with access to the testbed infrastructure required to conduct training, demonstrations, pilot projects and research. AURORA will be a national resource that accommodates a broad range of deployment scenarios across a variety of physical environments while fostering a cooperative interdisciplinary environment. AURORA has adopted a formal governance structure that includes a management committee, configuration control board and research collaboration advisory board in order to ensure the maximum return on this substantial infrastructure investment.