Tracking Truck Flows with Programmable Mobile Devices for Drayage Efficiency Analysis

Inefficient use of drayage trucks results in negative externalities of pollution and congestion. A full measure of the current state of drayage efficiency and future changes as trade volume grows can only be obtained through detailed tracking of drayage activities. Recent emergence of tablet computers provides an ideal platform for the design of an Electronic On-Board Recorder (EOBR) for such tracking. CSULB researchers have built a prototype of an EOBR that would perform global positioning system (GPS) tracking of the truck locations periodically as well as during certain activities, with all logs time stamped. It would also provide easy entry by driver of their work activities where appropriate. The data collected on the device can then be transmitted to a server and maintained in a database. This project is to adopt and enhance this prototype, conduct a large-scale deployment of this technology, build a database of the collected data, and develop a user interface and graphical display tools for the access and analysis of the collected data. A thorough understanding of truck flow inefficiencies and their cause, and the freight flows pattern in a given area will not only provide useful data for the truck industry to devise strategies for productivity improvement, but also help stake holders in supply chain management, including the ports and terminal operators, to identify the sources of inefficiency in drayage, quantify the impacts of these inefficiencies and develop solutions.

• Record URL:
  http://www.metrans.org/research/tracking-truck-flows-programmable-mobile-devices-drayage-efficiency-analysis

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $100,000
• Contract Numbers:

  65A0533

• Sponsor Organizations:

  California Department of Transportation

  1227 O Street
  Sacramento, CA  United States  95843
• Project Managers:

  Valentine Deguzman, Victoria

• Performing Organizations:

  California State University, Long Beach

  1250 Bellflower Boulevard
  Long Beach, CA  United States  90840
• Principal Investigators:

  Lam, Shui

• Start Date: 20140825
• Expected Completion Date: 20150824
• Actual Completion Date: 20151031
• Source Data: RiP Project 37139

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automotive computers; Drayage; Global Positioning System; Mobile computing; Port operations; Tracking systems; Traffic congestion; Traffic flow; Truck traffic
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Vehicles and Equipment; I15: Environment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01541717
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: National Center for Metropolitan Transportation Research
• Contract Numbers: 65A0533
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Oct 23 2014 1:00AM