Logistics and Transportation

Book excerpt: Logistics is a $700 billion industry in the USA and is the second largest employer of college graduates. Logistics costs account for nearly 30% of the sales dollar, and logistics activities are essential to satisfying the ever- changing customer demand in terms of variety and availability. Today the need for cutting edge, sophisticated logistics practices has never been greater. This unique text is squarely focused on the key activities within the functional areas of logistics and transportation, with emphasis placed on the quantitative treatment of the design and planning issues in logistics. In scope, Logistics and Transportation comprehensively covers almost all the elements of the supply chain. Moreover, it includes a number of topics that are generally not covered by most popular logistics texts. These include functional areas such as: vendor selection, inventory models with inventory costs, advanced transportation models, logistics metrics, and latest trends in logistics. The text is primarily designed for use in the classroom by senior undergraduate and graduate-level students. It is also a useful resource for practicing transportation and logistics professionals. Readers will appreciate the references for recommended further reading, related training aids and problem sets given at the end of each chapter, as well as the two comprehensive logistics cases presented at the end of the text.