In the past 30 years, commercial transport traffic has more than doubled
in both Europe and North America. Asian commercial transport traffic
over this period of time has likely increased even more. Traffic jams
are routine and they can happen in any segment of the highway system at
any time. Moreover, manufacturing companies increasingly apply
just-in-time practices in order to cut down inventory costs. As any
mismatch between supply and demand can result into significant
disturbances of manufacturing processes, just-in-time practices
necessitate punctual, reliable, and flexible transportation. Emerging
technologies in real-time communications systems provide the means for
commercial vehicle operators to meet the increasingly complex customer
expectations in a highly dynamic environment with unreliable traffic
conditions.
FLEET TELEMATICS: Real-Time Management and Planning of Commercial
Vehicle Operations combines wireless telematics systems with dynamic
vehicle routing algorithms and vehicle-positioning systems to produce a
telematics-enabled information system that can be employed by commercial
fleet operators for real-time monitoring, control, and planning. The
book presents a Messaging & Fleet Monitoring System that automatically
identifies deviations between the planned and the current state of the
transportation system and a Dynamic Planning System (DPS) that provides
real-time decision support considering the current state of the
transportation system. The DPS uses newly developed dynamic vehicle
routing algorithms to find high-quality solutions and adjust schedules
and routes immediately.
