An Optimization Model of Railway Empty Container Allocation Based on Customer Satisfaction

¹ School of Traffic and Transportation, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China
² School of Traffic and Transportation, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China

^a Corresponding author: xhli1@bjtu.edu.cn

Abstract

With the rapid development of modern corporate management, customer satisfaction evaluation has been applied to the management of many companies. Railway empty container allocation not only involves the cost of the railway transportation, but also considers the customer's requirements for time and convenience, etc. Therefore customer satisfaction evaluation also becomes very important for railway container allocation decision. However, it is not easy to properly quantify customer satisfaction, because there are many indicators that cannot be directly quantified. This paper proposes a customer satisfaction evaluation index system based on the RATER index, and adopts a comprehensive evaluation method to achieve quantitative evaluation of customer satisfaction. An empty container allocation optimization model based on customer satisfaction is established. The model can comprehensively consider the interests of both the railway and customers, and provide an effective reference for the railway transportation department to improve the transportation service and optimize empty container allocation plan.