Value-Focused Assessment of Cargo Value Decreasing Rates

Abstract

The transportation system is an essential component of any economy, and cargo disruptions can have substantial economic and societal impacts. These damaging consequences can be mitigated through quantitative assessment and prioritization of disrupted cargo such that the critical cargo is redirected intelligently. This article presents a value-focused thinking (VFT) approach to determine value decreasing rates for disrupted cargo in support of efficient and effective transportation disruption response.

Keywords:

• Cargo Prioritization
• Disruption Response
• Inland Waterways
• Transportation
• Value Decreasing Rate
• Value-Focused Thinking

EMJ Focus Areas:

• Decision Making & Risk Management
• Operations Management
• Supply Chain Management

Additional information

Funding

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under Grant Award Number 2008-ST-061-TS003. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Notes on contributors

Jingjing Tong

Jingjing Tong, PhD is an assistant professor within the Department of Polytechnic Studies at Southeast Missouri State University. She received her PhD in 2014 from the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Arkansas. Her teaching and research focused on applied operations research in transportation, logistics, supply chain, disruption response and homeland security, and engineering decision analysis.

Heather Nachtmann

Heather Nachtmann, PhD is a Fellow of the American Society for Engineering Management. She serves as the Associate Dean for Research in the College of Engineering and a Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Arkansas. Dr. Nachtmann serves as director of the Maritime Transportation Research and Education Center (MarTREC) and the Mack-Blackwell Transportation Center. Dr. Nachtmann received her PhD from the University of Pittsburgh in 2000.

Edward A. Pohl

Edward A. Pohl, PhD is Professor and Head of the Industrial Engineering Department at the University of Arkansas. Ed received his PhD in Systems and Industrial Engineering from the University of Arizona. His primary research interests are in reliability, engineering optimization, healthcare and supply chain risk analysis, and decision making. Ed is a Fellow of IIE, a Senior Member of IEEE, and a member of INCOSE, INFORMS, and ASEM.