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In the present paper, the authors develop a methodology for stability monitoring of the hydrotechnicaldefensive embankment that is exposed to heavy frequent traffic. The proposed methodology envisages several phases of observation, work and monitoring: (1) macroscopic observations, (2) geophysicalgeoelectric tests, (3) group of exploration works, (4) model formation, (5) establishment of a monitoring system, (6) acquisition data processing and modeling. Four of the six proposed phases are illustrated by the example of the left-bank Danube embankment used by the Kovin coal mine for the needs of coaltruck haulage. The results of the performed research indicate that there are no deformations that endanger the defensive function of the embankment. In order to ensure safe coal truck haulage and preserve the function of the embankment, it is proposed to establish a system for geophysical, hydrogeological and geotechnical monitoring, to form a model for simulating the behavior of the embankment for different hydrometeorological conditions (consequently, for different consistency states and materialcompaction), and for different load conditions. Keywords: defensive embankment, traffic, stability, methodology, monitoring, modeling

The purpose of the study is to review and analyze the experience of specialists in the field of spatial design of haulage roads for further improving the methodological foundations by providing clarity and visually acceptable degree of spatial curves. Drivers perception of the haulage road as well as overspeeding lead to critical situations or road accidents. A decrease in speed at seemingly abrupt bends on the road affects the efficiency of the log trucking transport. Therefore, the perspective view of the road should clearly orient the driver, that is, be visually clear, clearly changing, ensuring the constancy or modulated reduction of the traffic condition. The need for an optimal spatial solution of the road increases. It is required to determine the conditions under which the visual smoothness and clarity of the most common simple spatial curves when looking from points corresponding to the normal position of the eyes of car drivers is ensured.

Heavy and oversized transportation requires solving a whole range of tasks, such as choosing a suitable method of customs clearance and of a customs post, determining the optimal route, correctly selecting vehicles, ensuring safety of related infrastructure, and road traffic, such as the width of the carriageway, height and width of bridges, tunnels, power lines, ordering permits for travel on certain road segments, ordering heavy and oversized cargo escorting service, providing the special labour regime and working conditions for drivers.The objective of the study was to provide options for solving the listed issues and offer choice of best modes of transport, routes of delivery of heavy and oversized cargo.This article based on the example of multimodal supply of components of wind power plant through the Russian national and foreign territory analyses issues of choosing a mode of transport for multimodal transportation of heavy and oversized cargo; of individuality of routes for movement of goods with non-standard weight and size characteristics; of developing a survey route, and of preliminary preparing transportation of heavy and oversized cargo. Identification of difficulties faced by participants in similar projects, helped to reveal preliminary solutions which might increase the efficiency of any individual transportation. Described features of transportation of this kind of cargo in Russia focused particularly on customs regulations governing crossing of the border of the Russian Federation by multicomponent goods. Since about 70 % of total «door-to-door» transportation, comprising haulage of heavy and oversized cargo, are performed by road transport, the article highlights the road transportation segment.The conclusion suggests that the main task when developing a route is to ensure safety of cargo transportation. The identified phases comprise choosing and calculating the route, the coordination of obtaining permits for transportation of heavy and oversized cargo with various organisations on different segments of the route. Solutions for import customs clearance of multicomponent disassembled cargo, particularly in case of non-simultaneous delivery, are examined.

Matrix converter is an attractive choice for motor drives with weight/size restrictions and high efficiency requirements, such as electric haulage vehicles used in mining. However, the use of matrix converters requires addressing a potential issue with input resonance, which can be exacerbated when using long feeders or trailing cables. This article addresses this problem by proposing a novel solution based on principles of modern control but shaped as a classical feedback architecture. Along with high quality reference tracking, the proposed solution utilizes the frequency changing properties of matrix converters to attenuate the input filter resonance by spectral shaping of the output current. This article shows that the solutions achieves its goals. Design and implementation details are discussed. This article results are validated by simulations and experiments.

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For many years now, the mining industry has seen a boost in exploring and developing the systems for monitoring operational parameters of mining machines, in particular load-haul-dump machines. Therefore, further researches on algorithmics have also advanced dynamically regarding effective performance management as well as predictive maintenance. Nonetheless, the issue of road conditions is still being neglected. That issue has a substantial impact on both the overall operator’s convenience, their performance, and machinery reliability, especially its construction node and tire damages. Moreover, such negligence pertains also to the maintenance of mine infrastructure, including the network of passages. The paper explains the use of the portable inertial measurement unit (IMU) in evaluating road conditions in the deep underground mine. The detailed descriptions of the road quality classification procedure and bump detection have been included. The paper outlines the basic method of tracking the motion trajectory of vehicles and suggests the method of visualization of the results of the road conditions evaluation. This paper covers the sample results collected by the measurements unit in the deep underground mine during six experiments. This paper is an extended version of a paper presented at the ACIIDs 2020 conference [P. Stefaniak, D. Gawelski, S. Anufriiev and P. Śliwiński, Road-quality classification and motion tracking with inertial sensors in the deep underground mine, Asian Conference on Intelligent Information and Database Systems, March 2020, Springer, Singapore, pp. 168–178].

The open pit mining load and haul system has been a mainstay of the mining industry for many years. While machines have increased in size and scale and automation has become an important development, there have been few innovations to the actual load and haul process itself in recent times. This research highlights some of the potential productivity and safety benefits that the incorporation of a surge loader may bring to the load and haul system through an analysis of the system, discussion of component characteristics, and mine planning aspects. The incorporation of the surge loader into open pit loading and haulage operations also enables improved safety. This is a result of a reduction in shovel–truck interactions and the reduced likelihood of truck overfilling and uneven loading. This paper details the number of mine worker deaths that a surge loader may have prevented within the Peruvian and Chilean mining industries.

The presence of expansive soils on construction sites is problematic in geotechnical engineering. The swell-shrink behaviour makes these soils not suitable to be used in their natural state. The expansive soil damages cause financial loss yearly more than floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes combined. Moreover, the cost of cut to spoil of expansive soils during construction projects has continued to rise because of the high cost of earthworks, haulage, and the increasing scarcity of spoil areas because of the built environment. Nonetheless, a proper stabilization technique can significantly enhance the expansive soil's properties. The research project attempts to review, report the limits and merits of mechanical and chemical methods utilized to stabilize expansive soils in line with their efficiency, environmental concerns, and cost-effectiveness. A review of mechanical and chemical treatment techniques is conducted in this regard. Ultimately, each stabilization method exhibits its merits and limitations. The lack of standards for the treatment of swelling soils is a significant problem in engineering practice. Specialists in the domain of soil treatment must work together to obtain an optimized stabilization approach and protocol. Moreover, engineers should perform a geoenvironmental assessment appropriate for chemical stabilization methods and additives utilized. This research work contributes as a guideline in the selection and application of chemical and mechanical stabilization methods.

One of the most important influencing factors on the economy of mines with surface and underground exploitation is the correct choice of haulage technology of ore and waste.The paper analyzes the haulage of ore and waste in the Lead and Zinc Mine “Sase” Srebrenica and determines the optimal haulage length on the four excavation blocks for the application of the new haulage system by using the mine trucks from the aspect of set criteria, increasing capacity and reducing haulage costs through the techno – economic analysis and optimization.The optimal haulage length is determined through the calculations of the loader capacity and the possible choice of the truckdepending on the stated criteria.

This study focuses on trailers’ utilization turn-around and fleets deployment of haulage industry in Malaysia. The study proposes a framework for Drop Trailer Method (DTM) which is suitable at present competitive business and suggest for specific mechanism in maximizing of fleets capacity. The ratio of 1:7 for prime movers and trailers was suggested which suitable for movement planning and better scheduling. It reflects with a complete system that requires in monitoring on the deployment of the machineries especially on the timing of DTM. Haulage industry involved with huge capital investment which therefore an appropriate planning and optimizing the trailers are significant. This is an exploratory study where the interviews were carried out among the 12 nominated haulage companies and its customers and at the end a qualitative research was adopted. Through the implementation on the proposed framework of DTM, the operational in haulage industry will be more effective and better impacts on trailers’ performance. The results indicated that the effectiveness of DTM is based on coordination and utilization of trailers. The DTM framework is suggested to be used in the measurement on the performance of trailers’ turn-around of haulage industry in future.

The haulage industry has the biggest fleets as compared to the others road trucking operators in Malaysia. The history of haulage industry started in 1971 until 2004 with five operators and in 2019 and above was recorded to 220 operators in the market. It was demonstrated with the open market which the growth of total fleet from 2,131 prime movers and 10,701 trailers before 2004 and more than 4,500 over prime movers and 31,500 over trailers in 2018 (AMH, 2018). The total number of prime movers and trailers had increased to 111% to overall fleets’ capacity. Haulage market which relate to container throughputs form 2009 - 2019 (ten-year) recorded at 16 million tues to 25 million teus in 2019 (UNCTAD 2019) which increased only by 65%. It was calculated on the surplus by 46 % of holding of prime movers in haulage industry at present. Apparently the market of haulage industry has stagnant and invite further sluggishness on haulage movements. The haulage operators had initiated to downsizing on the fleets due to unstable market and difficulty to sustain in their business. Therefore, the research suggests on appropriate ways to improve on the present condition and making more competitiveness of haulage industry. This research will investigate into three (3) segmentations such as reduction number of fleets, improvement on present activities and changing on other types of trucking businesses. The key respondents of the survey were the haulage operators, customers, government agency and other stakeholders. The survey was conducted among 200 respondents and at the end only 170 answers were accepted. The research uses SPSS version 25 and PLS-SEM to analyze from the collected data. The finding of the research has suggested that the three segmentations are the most appropriate ways to improve the present condition in haulage industry.

La commission de transport soulève aujourd’hui d’importantes difficultés de qualification. Si certains la rattachent encore à la figure du mandat, d’autres insistent au contraire sur ses particularités propres. Loin d’être strictement contemporaines, ces incertitudes semblent avoir constitué une difficulté pour l’ensemble des auteurs ayant écrit sur cette notion, depuis l’Ancien Régime. Dès lors, l’examen de cette longue controverse doctrinale entend apporter un éclairage sur les causes de ce désaccord persistant, sans pour autant chercher à déterminer la véritable nature de ce contrat. Today, the freight forwarder status raises some legal classification troubles. While some still attach it to the figure of the mandate, others insist on the contrary on its own particularities. These uncertainties seem to have been a difficulty for all the authors who wrote about this notion since the 16th century. Therefore, the examination of this long doctrinal controversy intends to shed light on the cause of this persistent disagreement.

Simulation has been used for decades in the mining industry to improve the design of haulage systems and optimize their operations. There are in the market many simulation environments for carrying out these tasks. Despite the existence of these advanced tools, there is a need of having more flexible environments that could be easily integrated with other tools such as optimization, advanced data analysis and real-time systems. In this work, the use of SimEventsTM is explored to build basic models of the main components of a haulage system. Using the unique abstraction mechanism of this environment, the main components are programmed as blocks that can be used to configure mining haulage systems. A hypothetical open-pit haulage system is simulated using Arena and the proposed simulation environment. Several simulation scenarios are used to compare the different features of these simulation tools and demonstrate the flexibility of the SimEventsTM models to address different operational scenarios including the integration of dispatching and maintenance operations. In addition, these models, unlike the Arena ones, have the potential to be seamlessly integrated with other MatlabTM toolboxes for optimization and analysis.

The paper presents input-state feedback linearization for a nonlinear, linear DC machine haulage trolley. The nonlinear haulage trolley model is based on a friction model as a function of dynamic slip. The novelty in our study in addition to finding the conditions for input-state linearization is the dynamic slip model based friction modeling. The key condition for input-state linearization is found to be that the friction coefficient must not be constant. A negative feedback control based on pole placement is designed for the linearized trolley for practical demonstration of concept.

In this paper we provide a singular optimal control analysis for a class of electric, linear DC machine trolleys characterized by an input translational force. The key goal in our study is to optimize performance by minimizing the energy associated with the drag losses. In so doing, a novel drag model is formulated. The necessary and sufficient conditions for singular optimality are formulated. The linear DC machine powered trolley is demonstrated to have minimal energy for superior state trajectories under varying haulage load.

Opening an underground mine or part of it presents complex and responsible issue, which affects the economy and effectiveness of the mine operation. This paper presents a methodology for selecting the optimal variant for opening, the lead-zinc ore mine Toranica, Macedonia. Six variants of opening and haulage of ore and waste rocks in the deeper parts of the ore deposit have been considered. After the performed analysis, the optimal variant for opening and haulage for the Toranica mine was determined.

Accurate knowledge of the distribution characteristics of structural planes in rocks is beneficial in the evaluation of rock mass quality and roadway support decision-making. In this study, in situ monitoring results were used to analyse the deformations and failure characteristics of the rock surrounding the main haulage roadway in the Huahong coal mine to establish a deformation and failure model for the surrounding rock affected by mining. According to an analytic hierarchy process, a comprehensive evaluation index for the degree of fracturing in the rock surrounding the coal seam roadways was proposed. Additionally, a classification method based on the comprehensive widths of the structural planes (CWSPs) inside the complete rock mass was proposed to determine the quality of the surrounding rock. The structures of the rocks surrounding the main haulage roadway in the mine before and after coal mining were observed in situ at monitoring station no. 22. Borehole imaging technology was used to classify the surrounding rock quality using the CWSP-based evaluation method. The results indicated that the roof rock was mildly affected by mining; the corner rock had a large degree of fracturing in the central part of the borehole and a small degree of fracturing at both ends; the rib rock was highly fractured. These evaluation results were consistent with the macroscopic characteristics of the surrounding rocks, indicating the reliability of the deformation and failure model for characterizing the surrounding rocks affected by mining.

Vehicle operating cost is the cost that haulers incur in rendering freight services. This cost is influenced by operational, economic, fixed asset, and institutional factors. Haulage firms must take the right decision on these factors to minimize the vehicle operating cost and increase their profit. This study examines the factors determining the vehicle operating costs of haulage firms in Nigeria. The data for this study was obtained through the administration of structured questionnaires randomly on 337 respondents out of 2154 staff in the 8 selected registered haulage firms having their headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria. The questionnaire was used to collect information on components of truck operation influencing vehicle operating costs. The result of the OLS multiple regression model shows that all the factors were significant and predict vehicle operating costs but to a varying extent. The coefficients of significant factors were wages (β = 0.324; p ≤ 0.01), empty running (β = 0.297; p ≤ 0.01), fleet size (β = 0.264; p ≤ 0.01), training (β = -0.201; p ≤ 0.01), weight of freight (β = 0.145; p ≤ 0.01), drivers experience (β = 0.132; p ≤ 0.01), vehicle age (β = 0.111; p ≤ 0.05), administrative fee (β = 0.100; p ≤ 0.05) and maintenance (β = 0.096; p ≤ 0.05) influence vehicle operating costs of haulage firms respectively. The study concluded that driver’s wages, empty running, fleet size, and training were important factors influencing the vehicle operating costs of the haulage firms. The study recommends useful policy decisions to improve the performance of haulage businesses in the study area.

Aim: To evaluates how managers take decisions on variable components of freight operation and its effects on truck operating costs in haulage business in Lagos, Nigeria. Study Design: The structure of this paper is a descriptive design. It identified a gap in knowledge and employed a structured questionnaire to obtain useful information that gives a clearer understanding of the subject in a new environment. The data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics. Place and Duration of Study: Haulage companies operating in Lagos, Nigeria between June and August 2019. Methodology: The population study is 2154 staff drawn from the eight purposively selected registered haulage companies in Lagos, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was randomly administered on 337 personnel involved in freight operations. The questionnaire survey was conducted to obtain information on company’s expenses and policy decisions on truck operating components. Result: The decision to use new truck reduces fuel consumption and maintenance cost of haulage business. Furthermore, remunerating drivers in salary is cost effective, regular training of drivers improves their performance while high empty return trips leads to revenue loss. Business owners take decisions on huge financial investment while managers handled those that are directly related to daily fleet operations. Conclusion: The study concluded that decisions on components of freight operation increases truck operating cost of the haulage companies in the study area. The study therefore recommends policy actions that will enhance productivity of haulage companies through effective decisions.

The purpose of the current research is to substantiate the conditions for the stability of haulage drifts when developing steep coal seams. The process of modeling the stability of haulage drifts has established that the stressed-strained state of side rocks in a coal-producing array that includes workings depends on the physical and mechanical properties of the roof and soil of the worked coal seam, the rigidity of protective structures, and the length of the roof section supported by a protective structure. Increasing the length of the roof section supported by a protective structure, at the minimal rigidity of pliable supports, increases the zone of smooth bending of the side rocks over a haulage drift and decreases the level of their stressed-strained state. It has been proven that when maintaining mining workings in deep mines, a reduction in the stressed-strained state of the side rocks, when applying the filling of the worked space, occurs as a result of the sealing of the filling massif on which the roof rocks are based when the values of the compaction factor of the source material accept maximum values equal to kcomp=1.5–1.53. When using artificial pliable protective structures, erected above a drift, a change in the stressed-strained state occurs as a result of compression of the supports, when the movement of rocks of the roof and soil is limited and the area of contact between side rocks and the erected protective structures increases. When choosing a protection technique for haulage drifts, it is necessary to take into consideration the parameters of the protective structures, because the impact of the size of the same supports, at the same rigidity, on the distribution of stresses in a coal-rock massif is diverse. In order to ensure the operational condition of the district preparatory workings in the development of steep coal seams, it is advisable to use pliable protective structures located above a haulage drift, which limit the movement of side rocks in the worked space

The object of research is the processes of ensuring the stability of lateral rocks in haulage drifts during the development of steep coal seams. With an increase in the depth of mining, the applied methods of protecting local preparatory excavations should ensure their operational condition in the excavated areas and correspond to changing mining and geological conditions within the mine field. Investigations of the manifestations of rock pressure in haulage drifts along the length of the excavation section are performed under field conditions. At specially equipped metering stations, the displacement of the lateral rocks on the preparatory excavation circuit is determined. The haulage drift is protected by rolling bonfires made of wooden sleepers or coal pillars. In the course of research, the influence of the stiffness of protection structures on the stability of lateral rocks in the haulage drift is established. A linear relationship is recorded between the displacements of the roof rocks and the load on the lining in the excavation along the length of the excavation section while protecting the haulage drift by the coal pillars. At the same time, with a decrease in the stiffness of the pillars by 80%, the section of the haulage drift decreases by 50% from the initial one. It is noted that the use of wooden structures for protection structures allows to limit the displacement of rocks on the contour of the haulage drift. As a result of the interaction of lateral rocks with wooden protection structures, with a decrease in their stiffness by 80%, the section of the haulage drift decreases by 30–35% from the initial one. Studies have shown that the reduction in the stiffness of wooden structures occurs due to their compression, and the coal pillars – as a result of destruction. It is noted that the most difficult conditions for maintaining haulage drifts are formed when using coal pillars. It is recommended, to ensure the stability of local preparatory workings, the use of compliant protection structures or the laying of excavated space. The obtained research results can be used when choosing a method for protecting haulage drifts on steep coal seams

During the last few decades, the mining industry has increasingly turned to autonomous systems in its efforts to modernize and advance mining methods and techniques. Vehicle automation in such complex working environments can play a critical role in improving worker safety and mine productivity. Moreover, as the global demand for minerals continues to increase, such technologies will enable access to deeper and more difficult to mine orebodies. The research reported in this article seeks to demonstrate the feasibility of autonomous batch haulage vehicles in the underground coal mining production cycle. By introducing autonomous shuttle cars, the operator can be removed from dusty, noisy, and potentially dangerous conditions and be placed in a relatively safe location, while supervising the machine rather than operating it. This article presents an overview of the approach taken, a description of a lab-scale model and mock mine environment, and preliminary results for autonomous navigation of the prototype shuttle car.

A study was conducted in an underground mine with the objective to identify, characterize, and source apportion airborne aerosols at the setup face and recovery room during longwall move operations. The focus was on contributions of diesel- and battery-powered heavy-duty vehicles used to transfer equipment between the depleted and new longwall panels and diesel-powered light-duty vehicles used to transport personnel and materials to various locations within the mine. Aerosols at the setup face were found to be distributed among diesel combustion-generated submicrometer and mechanically generated coarse aerosols. According to the data, the submicrometer aerosols downstream of the setup face were sourced to diesel exhaust emitted by vehicles operated inside and outside of the panel. Depending on the intensity of the activities on the panel, the outby sources contributed between 12.5 and 99.6% to the average elemental carbon mass flow at the setup face and recovery room. Extensively used light-duty vehicles contributed measurably to the elemental carbon concentrations at the setup face. The number concentrations of aerosols downstream of the setup face were associated with aerosols generated by combustion in diesel engines operated in the shield haulage loop and/or outside of the longwall panels. Entrainment of road dust by diesel or battery-powered load-haul-dump vehicles operated near the measurement site appears to be the primary source of mass concentrations of aerosols. The findings of this study should help the underground mining industry in its efforts to reduce exposures of miners to diesel and coarse aerosols.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of the ongoing freight market deregulation in the European Union (EU). Specifically, this case study focuses on cabotage penetration rates in Germany, the largest logistics market in Europe. In light of the upcoming trade barriers, we intend to move this topic forward by emphasising its interdisciplinary nature.Design/methodology/approachBased on the analysis of Eurostat data, expert interviews and a review of related literature, we elaborate and discuss four propositions related to the factors affecting cabotage penetration, future cabotage levels and the effects on modal split and empty runs.FindingsWe found that cabotage in Germany plays a more important role than officially reported and has increased drastically since 2008. Given our analysis, increased cabotage penetration seems to thwart efforts within the EU to promote a modal shift from road to rail and increased national empty runs are the future outcome of current regulations. In Germany, the cabotage share is likely to reach 16% in the next five years.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper highlights the need for incorporating a more contextual understanding in freight carrier selection theory development in general as well as country-specific investigations in particular.Practical implicationsLogistics managers and policymakers looking at future strategies are advised to take the ongoing deregulation trend into consideration. European freight movement using cabotage operators may represent significant cost savings; however, these cost savings come at an environmental and social sustainability price as the modal shift to rail and fill rates suffer.Originality/valueThis paper represents an empirical and unbiased point of view, in contrast to the reports of the European Commission (pro-deregulation) or the reports of the haulage associations and labour unions (anti-deregulation).

The paper considers a number of indicators patterning overall LPI index, which is influenced by the logistics services quality, directly determined by the efficiency, delivery timeliness and professionalism as regards road haulage and passenger transport services, and affects the image of the state as a commercial partner at the international market.Object of research: the process of logistics services rendering in the context of road haulage and passenger transport globalization.Purpose of work: to analyze and study the impact of "quality and logistics services competence" indicator on international subindicators and the country's rating.Scientific novelty of the project is the proposed approach for the implementation of on-line monitoring of the road transport services executors’ competence, including drivers, which has no analogues in Ukraine and meet international requirements and standards of the industry.Research methods: Delphi method, statistical analysis, methods of SWOT analysis, SMART analysis STEP analysis, multiple correlation analysis, forecasting.The paper explores implementation of information system for professional competence management (Drivers Register) as “access to profession” on the commercial road transport market.Projected impact of the project on the motor transport and related industries development: the introduction of an information system for professional competence managing will improve the conditions for the implementation of the Association Agreement regarding introduction of initial qualifications and periodic training for drivers of certain types of vehicles for the goods or passengers transport, which in turn will positively affect improvement of goods movement efficiency and safety by international commercial road transport operators of Ukraine, increasing logistics services level and thus of the competence and quality indicator of logistics services measuring overall LPI of Ukraine, resulting in upgrade of competitiveness level, development of international trade, attractive investment climate, and therefore the image and rating of the country.

Within the broad ongoing review of the legislation of the European road haulage market the European Commission presented in May 2017 several proposals to clarify the regulation of the market, especially market access, driving and rest periods, and the application of the posted workers directive. The paper aims to show economic implications of the suggested regulation on the basis of two round trip models and to outline the differences of political and regional interests by analysing the ammendments to the proposals handed in by members of the political groups of the different Member States.The proposed regulation can be viewed as a further deregulation of the market with further shifts of markets shares in international and cabotage markets. This in turn is reflected by distinct regional differences of amendments of members within the different political groups.

The working environment of underground mines is complicated, making it difficult to construct an underground mine production plan. In response to the requirements for the preparation of a short-term production plan for underground mines, an optimization model for short-term resource planning was constructed, with the goal of maximizing the total revenue during the planning period. The artificial bee colony optimization algorithm is used to solve the model using MATLAB. According to the basic requirements of underground mine ore haulage and ore hoisting, a haulage equipment inter-stopes dispatch plan model was constructed, with the primary goal of minimizing the haulage equipment wait time. A non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm is used to solve the optimization model. An underground mine is examined using the two models, and the optimization results are compared and verified with the scheme obtained by using traditional optimization algorithms. Results show that based on the improved optimization algorithm, the use of short-term production planning schemes to guide mine production operations can increase the haulage equipment utilization rate, thereby increasing mine production revenue.

Interest from industry and policy makers on the use of autonomous goods vehicles (AGVs) for commercial use, has increased rapidly as the underlying technology has developed. This study looks at the potential impact of autonomous road haulage on logistics operations and barriers for commercial implementation in the UK. The research focuses on large goods vehicles, capable of automated driving, where the driver is not required for some or all of the journey, for logistics operations between suppliers, manufacturing plant, and retailer. The data is collected through semi-structured interviews and scoring questionnaires. All 76 participants had experience working in the logistics industry, from various parts of the operations process. The data was analysed using thematic analysis followed with the results subsequently ranked by participants to identify the importance and perceived impact. Results revealed a near-term barrier for adoption of autonomous technology, is the lack of standardisation, as technology is progressing in many different directions, with little consultation on what features are needed or how they will be implemented. The findings show the main impact of commercialisation of autonomous road haulage are overall maintenance cost reduction, due to less wear and tear, and operational cost reduction, especially for long-haul journeys, as vehicles can operate for longer hours. Moreover, despite barriers in the short term, such as public acceptance and transition costs, these will likely be outweighed by improvements in efficiency and utilisation. Based on findings from the study, we present six key considerations for the introduction of commercial autonomous road haulage, which can be used as a guide for policy makers, insurance companies, transport planning authorities, and vehicle manufacturers.

This article is devoted to the issues of processing and analysis of heterogeneous information related to the functioning of mining transport equipment, which becomes available for analysis within the framework of modern technological operations control systems in open-pit mines. These issues are very relevant to robotized technological operations. The paper gives a brief overview of the modern landscape of the autonomous haulage systems management problems, the features of the platform approach to solving the problem of managing unmanned transport and technological processes in open pits are considered. The concept of an agent-based approach to the modeling of an open-pit mining is described in detail on the basis of the interaction of three systems: technical, infrastructural–technological, and geostructural. Some features of the developed platform architecture integration of heterogeneous information are discussed. The principles of information integration are considered in detail when constructing a dynamic 3D model (digital twin) of infrastructure and technological system elements using large arrays of telemetric data. The results of building digital models of open-pit technological roads are presented. The resulting models are comparatively analyzed in the process of optimizing of the interaction of technical autonomous mobile agents and elements of technological infrastructure.

A significant portion of the total cost of the intermodal transportation is generated from the inland transportation of containers. In this paper, we design a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model for combining orders in the inland, haulage transportation of containers. The pickup and delivery process of both 20 and 40 foot containers from the terminals to the customer locations and vice versa are optimized using heterogeneous fleet consisting of both 20 ft and 40 ft trucks/chasses. Important operational constraints such as the time window at order receivers, the payload weight of containers and the regulation of the working hours are considered. Based on an assignment problem structure, this MILP solves efficiently to optimality for problems with up to 120 orders. To deal with larger instances, a decomposition and aggregation heuristic is designed. The basic idea of this approach is to decompose order locations geographically into fan-shaped subareas based on the angle of the order location to the port baseline, and solve the sub problems using the proposed MILP model. To balance the fleet size amongst all subgroups, column generation is used to iteratively adjust the number of allocated trucks according to the shadow-price of each truck type. Based on decomposed solutions, orders that are “fully” combined with others are removed and an aggregation phase follows to enable wider combination choices across subgroups. The decomposition and aggregation solution process is tested to be both efficient and cost-saving.

Modal shift from road haulage to short sea shipping (SSS) has been advocated by authorities and researchers for more than two decades. This paper provides a review of literature on modal shift and ...

The BR-277 is one of the main routes for several products, including hazardous products, causing great concern due to the problems they can cause to the population and the environment in case of an accident. The section of the highway that connects Guaraniacu to Foz do Iguacu is in an essential hydrographic region with three main watersheds for the state: the Piquiri, Lower Iguazu and Parana 3 basins. The study was a survey from 2013 to 2017 of traffic and accidents involving the transportation of hazardous products in 209 kilometers, in the stretch from km 493 to 730 of BR-277 (Guaraniacu to Foz do Iguacu), highlighting the socio-environmental impacts to the urban and rural sources that they can cause in the event of accidents. The data was qualitatively analyzed and presented in graphs. The road administrators provided the traffic data, classes, and collisions with hazardous products. The percent of hazardous cargoes was 27 in 2013; 21 in 2014; 15 in 2015; 19 in 2016; and 18 in 2017 — Summing 27501 hazardous cargos for the period. The most transported products were flammable liquids, gases, hazardous, and corrosive substances. There were nine accidents with dangerous products in the stretch, the km 584 showed the highest accident record, with 414 accidents in 5 years. Due to high road haulage, traffic, and the number of accidents in the region, preventive and mitigating measures must be taken. Such as accident risk training for public and private managers and employees working with this type of transportation and reinforcement of the signaling of critical and water source areas.

Freight transportation is vital to a nation’s long-term development and its performance needs to be carefully evaluated to ensure the effectiveness, efficiency, and equity of haulage infrastructure decisions. The previous attempts at benchmarking the transportation corridors and route efficiency through Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models violated homogeneity assumptions or did not provide an appropriate robustness analysis. The present paper integrates index creation and general DEA guidelines, and proposes a framework for the creation of a long-distance cargo haulage performance index, advancing towards the limitations of the previous efforts. The methodology is applied to the context of soybean transportation, one of the relevant Brazilian exporting products, during the harvest of 2015/2016, from the main mid-sized producing regions to the key exporting ports, by land transportation. The proposed approach and findings can provide insights into public and private long-term investment strategies and infrastructure policies in Brazil and other developing countries in a similar context.

The article deals with the Silk road rail corridors overview including current state and further development, key process players and their characteristics. Qualitative approach of research and assessment was applied based on market study, expert’s interviews, literature and internet sources examination. Study covers political and economic conditions, operational procedures and facilities along the Road, terms and conditions of haulage, subsidies and pricing policies, trade opportunities. It becomes apparent during the study that it is of vital importance to facilitate the efforts of all involved parties to build a new reliable instrument for raPID and low-cost worldwide supply chain logistics, that not even compete with maritime and airfreight transport, but opens the window into the innovative and modern models of world freight services. Technical modernization, better interaction between the countries and the participants, enhanced electronic date interchanges, harmonization of relevant operations, all that contribute significantly to meeting global freight demands.

The determination of haul units is one of the important steps in the equipment selection process. The process should aim at minimizing the operational costs and create an optimal match for the haulage system. When open pit mines operating towards closure, reducing the operational costs results in significant gaining, and the savings can be used to implement some of the closure plans. In this paper, the prediction of haul units for an open pit mine which operates towards the final pit limit was analysed using discrete event simulation and multiple linear regressions. The result shows that the changes in production rate have significantly impact on the number of haul units in operations. The obtained P-value suggests that there is a strong correlation between the haul units’ requirement, production rates, and haul distances. This reveals that the prediction of haul units’ requirements can be achieved using a developed regression model. It was observed that, the approach of using discrete event simulation and multiple linear regressions is useful in integrating fleet size decision in a multi-period production schedule. Keywords : Discrete event simulation, Haul unit selection, Mine closure, Multiple linear regression analysis, Open pit.

In currently used mining methods, blasting techniques often causes dilution of valuable ore and results in costly processing requirements. In the context of narrow vein mining of thin and highly concentrated orebodies there is a need of a mining method that can reduce dilution in order to remain economically viable. This research project explored the viability of a new mining technology, thermal fragmentation, in narrow vein mining. Thermal fragmentation technology uses a flame jet to produce extreme heat that spalls the surrounding rock to a strategically located drill hole, as an alternative to traditional blasting. This paper creates a net present value (NPV) model of a mining method using thermal fragmentation, as well as for an existing method used for narrow vein mining; comparisons and evaluations were made regarding the feasibility of the new technology. It was found that while overall costs for thermal fragmentation were relatively high, reductions in wages, haulage and processing costs, as well as increased productivity and ore recovery, meant that the new method would improve the financial performance of any operation. These results identify that there is an opportunity to introduce the thermal fragmentation technology to narrow vein mines within Australia, in order to lower costs and increase profit.

The following stages of a designing process of the toothed haulage segment are presented in the article. The toothed segment, developed within the framework of the KOMTRACK project, is an element of an innovative haulage system for highly productive longwall complexes. The project, according to the Contract No. POIR.04.01.04-00-0068/17, realized by the consortium: KOMAG, AGH University of Science and Technology, Foundry Institute, Specodlew Innovative Enterprise of Foundry Engineering, Ltd. and Polish Mining Group, J.S.C., is co-financed with the means of the European Regional Development Fund. The toothed bar, made of toothed segments of the haulage system, works together with the track wheel of a shearer haulage unit. A distinguishing feature of the newly designed haulage system, in relation to the system used at present, is its flexibility enabling individual toothed segments to adapt to longitudinal and transverse curvatures of the longwall conveyor track, which guarantees a correct cooperation with the track wheel.