Minimizing Haulage Roundtrip Distribution Cost of Manufactured Products

ABSTRACT Minimizing Haulage Roundtrip Distribution Cost of Manufactured Products is a major concern in the haulage industry. The success of each trip requires for a truck owner or fleet manager of a haulage company to assign to the truck driver the resources needed for the job success.
However, on close examination, the fuel for the return trip and a tangible percentage of the road expense budget achieves little but to bring the truck back to the yard. These resources are not engaged on the return as it completes its job once the cargo has been delivered. This reveals the inefficiency in the system of operation in haulage companies and begged the following questions, what are the problems of cost of haulage; can an algorithm be created to improve the efficiency of haulage operations; and can a software to optimize haulage operations be developed? The aim of this project was to answer these questions and prove that haulers can reduce cost and improve operational efficiency by taking on multiple jobs allocated by this software. Data collected from BETA Transport Nigeria Limited through an interview with the General Manager, was used to determine the problems of cost, while a data set was created to conduct a test of the created algorithm and software. The study showed that the major cost problems faced are the misuse of trucks during return trips and fuel siphoning which is due to a lack of engagement of resources which leads to under-utilization and reduction in efficiency in haulage operations. The algorithm developed favors trucks that stand a chance to reduce inefficiency and avoid empty returns. The result of the experiment showed that although a truck may have a marginal increase in cost by completing multiple jobs the venture almost doubles his profits. The 8-stage algorithm and software developed therefore, should be recommended and promoted in the industry.

Table of Contents CERTIFICATION DEDICATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ABSTRACT LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF TABLES LIST OF PLATES
CHAPTER 1 1.0 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY 1.1 RESEARCH PROBLEM 1.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1.3 AIM OF THE STUDY 1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 1.5 HYPOTHESIS 1.6 THE STUDY AREA 1.7 DEFINITION OF OPERATIONAL TERMS
CHAPTER 2 2.0  LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0.1  INTERMODAL TRANSPORT 2.0.2 PRE AND POST HAULAGE (PPH) 2.0.3 COSTS CLASSIFICATION IN FREIGHT TRANSPORT 2.0.4 ACTIVITY BASED COSTING (ABC) 2.0.5 TRANSPORT REGULATION AND CONSTRAINTS 2.0.6 STRUCTURING PRE AND POST HAULAGE ROAD FREIGHT TRANSPORT 2.0.6.1 OPERATIONAL PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT 2.0.6.2 VEHICLE ROUTING FOR PICKUP AND DELIVERY 2.0.6.3 LOADING UNIT MANAGEMENT IN PRE AND POST HAULAGE OPERATIONS 2.0.7 LOADING UNIT STATUS TABLE 2.1 START AND DESTINATION POINT OF DIFFERENT LOADING STATUS 2.0.7.1 INBOUND AND OUTBOUND FLOW OF LOADING UNIT 2.0.7.2 FLOWS WHICH ARE IRRELEVANT TO CONVEY GOODS 2.1 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 2.1.1 SYSTEM THEORY 2.1.2 INPUT OUTPUT THEORY
CHAPTER 3 3.0 RESEARCH DESIGN 3.1 STUDY AREA 3.2 POPULATION OF THE STUDY 3.3 SAMPLING TECHNIQUE & SAMPLE SIZE 3.4 METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION 3.5 METHODS OF DATA ANALYSIS
CHAPTER 4 4.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 PROBLEMS OF COST ASSOCIATED WITH HAULAGE OPERATIONS TABLE 4.1 PROBLEMS OF COST 4.2 DEVELOPMENT OF AN ALGORITHM TABLE 4.2: EXPERIMENT TABLE 4.3. JOB ASSIGNMENT 4.3 DEVELOPING THE SOFTWARE
CHAPTER 5 5.0 SUMMARY 5.1 CONCLUSION 5.2 RECOMMENDATION REFERENCES APPENDIX I APPENDIX II