A program of freight consolidation is a systematic attempt to decrease total transportation cost between a given origin and destination. Fewer shipments of larger weight are dispatched, while recognizing the inventory carrying cost of holding the first-arriving orders before dispatching the combined load. Here we employ probabilistic modeling to choose the maximum holding time and desired dispatch quantity. We obtain practical decision rules for temporal consolidation for transportation in one's own truck. Final results are expressed visually through a nomograph (four linked graphs) relating decision variables, probability and demand parameters, and objective-function values. The nomograph permits an intuitive sensitivity analysis.
