Barker-Sharon Laws of Truck Dynamics

For the past two-and-one-half years the authors have been involved in extensive Management Science efforts to support the operations of the ANR Freight System, a relatively new offspring of American Natural Resources, which is now the seventh largest trucking company in the nation. ANR Freight was formed to manage four regional motor freight common carriers.

Our first assignment was to develop better understanding of operational problems from a strategic perspective; we were asked to propose and develop computerized planning decision aids to allow periodic review and fine tuning of strategic decisions. In that process we gained a tremendous amount of insight into the linehaul operation of regional motor carriers. We also had our share of success and failure in solving large-scale mathematical optimization problems.

Our ultimate success in implementing productivity improvements, which resulted in an annual savings of $9 million, will be described in the December 1981 Special Practice Issue of Interfaces. This paper was the winner of the 1981 Tenth Annual International Achievement Award Competition of the TIMS College on the Practice of Management Science.