Reducing CO2 emissions in temperature-controlled road transportation using the LDVRP model

Temperature-controlled transport is needed to maintain the quality of products such as fresh and frozen foods and pharmaceuticals. Road transportation is responsible for a considerable part of global emissions. Temperature-controlled transportation exhausts even more emissions than ambient temperature transport because of the extra fuel requirements for cooling and because of leakage of refrigerant. The transportation sector is under pressure to improve both its environmental and economic performance. To explore opportunities to reach this goal, the Load-Dependent Vehicle Routing Problem (LDVRP) model has been developed to optimize routing decisions taking into account fuel consumption and emissions related to the load of the vehicle. However, this model does not take refrigeration related emissions into account. We therefore propose an extension of the LDVRP model to optimize routing decisions and to account for refrigeration emissions in temperature-controlled transportation systems. This extended LDVRP model is applied in a case study in the Dutch frozen food industry. We show that taking the emissions caused by refrigeration in road transportation can result in different optimal routes and speeds compared with the LDVRP model and the standard Vehicle Routing Problem model. Moreover, taking the emissions caused by refrigeration into account improves the estimation of emissions related to temperature-controlled transportation. This model can help to reduce emissions of temperature-controlled road transportation.