Workforce planning for last mile delivery: incorporating multi-period dynamics and postponed deliveries

Jing Zhang, Yu Zhang*, Roberto Baldacci, Jiafu Tang

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Adopting mixed workforce of in-house and ad-hoc drivers is prevalent in last mile delivery. This paper studies a tactical-level workforce planning problem to determine, in the planning phase, the number of in-house drivers to hire, who will delivery goods together with ad-hoc drivers in the subsequent operational phase. Particularly, we consider multi-period deliveries and allow for postponed deliveries. The objective is to minimize the sum of fixed costs of in-house drivers, variable costs of in-house and ad-hoc drivers, and the penalty costs for postponed deliveries. We develop an integer optimization model and an easy-to-use method to apply the model in data-driven setting. Utilizing data from an online-to-offline retailer in Chongqing as a case study, we conduct numerical tests and sensitivity analysis to evaluate the model's performance, demonstrating its efficacy in reducing costs and improving service level.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationEighth International Conference On Traffic Engineering And Transportation System, Ictets 2024, Pt 1
EditorsX Xiao, J Yao
PublisherSPIE
Number of pages6
Volume13421
ISBN (Electronic)978-1-5106-8629-8
ISBN (Print)978-1-5106-8628-1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 Dec 2024
Event8th International Conference on Traffic Engineering and Transportation System, ICTETS 2024 - Dalian, China
Duration: 20 Sept 202422 Sept 2024

Publication series

NameProceedings Of Spie

Conference

Conference8th International Conference on Traffic Engineering and Transportation System, ICTETS 2024
Country/TerritoryChina
CityDalian
Period20/09/2422/09/24

Keywords

  • Ad-hoc driver
  • In-house driver
  • Integer optimization
  • Last mile delivery
  • Workforce planning

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