{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/28574"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/28574","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Optimization tools for the freight brokerage industry","abstract":"The freight brokerage industry in North America was born of the deregulation of the trucking industry in 1982. In the two decades since, the industry has grown from nothing to $50 Billion in revenue. In the beginning, freight brokers used T-card systems to record, track, and bill orders. Technology advances over those two decades have driven many of the operational changes throughout the freight transportation industry as a whole, with shipment data visibility, asset utilization, and supply chain planning leading the way. The use of optimization tools in transportation and supply chain management has proliferated. Network analysis, inventory planning and deployment, fleet routing, and warehouse planning are important examples of areas in which these tools have had a major impact. However, the freight brokerage sub-industry itself has largely ignored the use of these tools. This research proposes pragmatic uses for optimization techniques in the freight brokerage industry. Three tools are proposed, with justifications for need, mathematical formulations, and exemplary situations and savings described. The three tools are: 1) optimal truckload freight tenders to multiple carriers, 2) optimal LTL consolidation, and 3) optimal matching of loads and trucks.","abstract_html":"The freight brokerage industry in North America was born of the deregulation of the trucking industry in 1982. In the two decades since, the industry has grown from nothing to $50 Billion in revenue. In the beginning, freight brokers used T-card systems to record, track, and bill orders. Technology advances over those two decades have driven many of the operational changes throughout the freight transportation industry as a whole, with shipment data visibility, asset utilization, and supply chain planning leading the way. The use of optimization tools in transportation and supply chain management has proliferated. Network analysis, inventory planning and deployment, fleet routing, and warehouse planning are important examples of areas in which these tools have had a major impact. However, the freight brokerage sub-industry itself has largely ignored the use of these tools. This research proposes pragmatic uses for optimization techniques in the freight brokerage industry. Three tools are proposed, with justifications for need, mathematical formulations, and exemplary situations and savings described. The three tools are: 1) optimal truckload freight tenders to multiple carriers, 2) optimal LTL consolidation, and 3) optimal matching of loads and trucks.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Silver, Jeffrey L. (Jeffrey Lee), 1962-"],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division.","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Cynthia Barnhart."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2003,"date_issued":"2003","date_published":"2003","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:21:03Z","subjects":["Engineering Systems Division."],"languages":["en_US"],"rights":["M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission."],"rights_urls":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/28574","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Cynthia Barnhart."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.other","label":"Dc Contributor Other","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Silver, Jeffrey L. (Jeffrey Lee), 1962-"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2005-09-27T17:06:18Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2005-09-27T17:06:18Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2003"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Engineering Systems Division."]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en_US"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission."]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/28574"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2003.","Includes bibliographical references (leaf 46)."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The freight brokerage industry in North America was born of the deregulation of the trucking industry in 1982. In the two decades since, the industry has grown from nothing to $50 Billion in revenue. In the beginning, freight brokers used T-card systems to record, track, and bill orders. Technology advances over those two decades have driven many of the operational changes throughout the freight transportation industry as a whole, with shipment data visibility, asset utilization, and supply chain planning leading the way. The use of optimization tools in transportation and supply chain management has proliferated. Network analysis, inventory planning and deployment, fleet routing, and warehouse planning are important examples of areas in which these tools have had a major impact. However, the freight brokerage sub-industry itself has largely ignored the use of these tools. This research proposes pragmatic uses for optimization techniques in the freight brokerage industry. Three tools are proposed, with justifications for need, mathematical formulations, and exemplary situations and savings described. The three tools are: 1) optimal truckload freight tenders to multiple carriers, 2) optimal LTL consolidation, and 3) optimal matching of loads and trucks."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["M.Eng.in Logistics"]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Optimization tools for the freight brokerage industry"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Cynthia Barnhart."],"dc:contributor.department":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division."],"dc:contributor.other":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division."],"dc:creator":["Silver, Jeffrey L. (Jeffrey Lee), 1962-"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2005-09-27T17:06:18Z"],"dc:date.available":["2005-09-27T17:06:18Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2003"],"dc:description":["Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2003.","Includes bibliographical references (leaf 46)."],"dc:description.abstract":["The freight brokerage industry in North America was born of the deregulation of the trucking industry in 1982. In the two decades since, the industry has grown from nothing to $50 Billion in revenue. In the beginning, freight brokers used T-card systems to record, track, and bill orders. Technology advances over those two decades have driven many of the operational changes throughout the freight transportation industry as a whole, with shipment data visibility, asset utilization, and supply chain planning leading the way. The use of optimization tools in transportation and supply chain management has proliferated. Network analysis, inventory planning and deployment, fleet routing, and warehouse planning are important examples of areas in which these tools have had a major impact. However, the freight brokerage sub-industry itself has largely ignored the use of these tools. This research proposes pragmatic uses for optimization techniques in the freight brokerage industry. Three tools are proposed, with justifications for need, mathematical formulations, and exemplary situations and savings described. The three tools are: 1) optimal truckload freight tenders to multiple carriers, 2) optimal LTL consolidation, and 3) optimal matching of loads and trucks."],"dc:description.degree":["M.Eng.in Logistics"],"dc:format.mimetype":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/28574"],"dc:language.iso":["en_US"],"dc:publisher":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"],"dc:rights":["M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission."],"dc:rights.uri":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"],"dc:subject":["Engineering Systems Division."],"dc:title":["Optimization tools for the freight brokerage industry"],"dc:type":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:21:03Z"}