A Smart Market Solution to a Class of Back-Haul Transportation Problems: Concept and Experimental Testbeds

Abstract: Back-haul problems occur in many areas of transportation. One way rental of equipment often takes it from an area of high demand to an area of low demand. Examples include container rentals, car rentals and other cases of mobile equipment. The problem is to return the equipment to the location of need. Typically this is viewed as an administrative and scheduling problem. The approach taken here is "decentralized" in which a specially designed market organizes competition and information to minimize the cost of back-hauls without the direct intervention of administrative negotiations or command-and-control types of scheduling. Laboratory experimental methods are employed to test the concept and explore its limitations.