IDENTIFYING THE KEY PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS’ FACTORS OF FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION ROUTING

Nitidetch  Koohathongsumrit; Warapoj  Meethom

Authors

Nitidetch Koohathongsumrit Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok, Bangkok, 10800, Thailand.
Warapoj Meethom Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok, Bangkok, 10800, Thailand.

Keywords:

Key physical characteristics’ factors, freight transportation routing, Delphi method, fuzzy analytic hierarchy process

Abstract

The purposes of this research were to identify and determine the relative weights of the key physical characteristics’ factors for freight transportation routing. The Delphi method was employed to screen and group the possible physical characteristics’ factors. Then, the key factors of the relative weights were determined by the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process based on experts’ opinions. The results showed that there are 20 key factors for freight transportation routing. The key factors were comprised in 4 groups in order of their relative weights, from the most to the least: the physical characteristics of road elements, of road competency, of blackspots, and of transportation facility. In addition, the results showed that the top 3 key factors were the percentage of access points, intersections, crosswalks, railroad crossings, and U-turn points per km, the number of lanes, and the road surfaces, respectively. The contributions of this study will be helpful for the decision-makers in freight transportation routing and the government to improve the transportation infrastructure of the country.

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