Project number: PSR-19-04

Funding source: Caltrans

Contract number: 65A0674 TO 023

Funding amount: $100,000

Performance period: 1/1/2020 to 12/31/2020

Project description

Today's vehicle navigation systems have limited ability to predict. The lack of coordination among different shippers and of information on the transport network make it difficult to predict changes in the transportation networks due to upcoming loads. The need for an intelligent freight assignment system becomes more urgent with the surge of technology development in battery electric trucks and platooning techniques. In this project, we developed a load balancing mixed freight coordinated assignment system with the inclusion of diesel and electric trucks on realistic road networks aiming for the optimal total combined cost of energy consumption and time. A Co-Simulation Optimization method is proposed to solve the problem. A distributed version of the Co-Simulation Optimization method is proposed to address the complexities induced from scaling the road network. Platooning techniques are also implemented in the optimal assignment procedure and analyzed in this project. The coordinated truck assignment system considering the characteristics of mixed freight fleets can reduce the operational cost and encourage the deployment of electric trucks in order to reduce emissions and improve air quality.