Modelling the effects of traffic congestion on JIT

Increasing traffic congestion in many parts of the world threatens to disrupt the reliable transport performance required for effective implementation of just-in-time logistics. An analytical framework for examining the effects of congestion on logistics performance is presented and mitigating options are suggested. The increasing problem of congestion is discussed and a general model is proposed with which its effects on time-sensitive logistics networks might be analysed. Utilising this model and supporting data from a Chicago-area transport study, a numerical example calculating the ‘costs of congestion’ for one component is developed and presented. Finally, some extensions of the base framework are proposed and discussed. These include using joint probability theory to examine the effects of multiple components and multiple suppliers and examining the expected benefits of some mitigating actions such as pooled deliveries and consolidation.