Focus Area: Support Chains

Principle Investigator:

Dr. Hokey Min
James R. Good Chair in Supply Chain Strategy
Department of Management
College of Business Administration
Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio
419.372.3442
hmin@bgsu.edu

Abstract:

Since driver fatigue has known to be the primary cause of serious truck crashes, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has attempted to implement new hours-of-service (HOS) regulations that aimed to promote safer driving environments. The new HOS regulations effective in January 4th of 2004, however, may lead to substantial cost increases for the trucking industry which will in turn hurt shippers and ultimate customers. For instance, motor carriers may need to hire additional 84,000 drivers to comply with new HOS rules requiring that drivers be placed out-of-service until they accumulated enough off-duty time. In particular, off-duty break required to refresh driving hours was increased to 10 consecutive hours from the old rule of eight cumulative hours. A chronic shortage of truck drivers would further aggravate the additional driver recruitment problem. In addition, due to potential loading/unloading delays and stiffer fines/penalties resultant from new HOS rules, motor carriers such as Schneider National estimated that trucking productivity would decline by 4-19% (WERC Sheet, 2004). To better cope with the challenges of declining trucking productivity, this project develops an intelligent decision support system that aided logistics executives and transportation planners in creating optimal truck routes and schedules under HOS rules.