| Article ID: | iaor19982290 |
| Country: | United States |
| Volume: | 43 |
| Issue: | 3 |
| Start Page Number: | 379 |
| End Page Number: | 387 |
| Publication Date: | May 1995 |
| Journal: | Operations Research |
| Authors: | Ronen David |
| Keywords: | distribution, transportation: road |
Petroleum products are distributed worldwide from refineries and lube plants to retail outlets and industrial customers. Proper dispatching of shipments of such products, packaged and in bulk, may result in significant transportation and inventory cost savings. This work examines the variety of operational environments which exist in dispatching petroleum products, and the operations research tools used by oil companies to dispatch such products. In addition, it identifies gaps where additional research is needed.