Directorate of distance education

Lesson 4.6 - Routing and Scheduling
Learning Objectives
After reading this lesson you should be able to:
➢ Understand the processes of transportation network
➢ Explain the tenets of direct shipment network
➢ Describe the intricacies of Direct Shipments via Distribution 
Centre
Introduction
In most of the cases, transportation cost is generally a major 
component of total logistical cost ranging between one-third and two-
third. That is why, it is a major concern to logistics managers to improve 
its efficiency through the maximization of transportation resources and 
system. The transit time of goods determines the number of shipments 
that can be made with a vehicle within a given period of time as well as total 
transportation costs for the shipment. The reduction of transportation 
costs and improvement of customer service depend upon the quality of 
routing and scheduling of transportation vehicle which comes under the 
preview of the design of transportation network. In other words, the design 
of a transportation network affects the performance of a supply chain by 
establishing the infrastructure within which operational transportation 
decisions regarding scheduling and routing are made. A well-designed 
transportation network allows its supply chain to achieve the desired 
degree of responsiveness at a low cost (Chopra and Meindl, 2001).
Transportation Network
The designs of transportation network vary from industry to 
industry, company to company and product to product due to diversity 
in the requirements of industry, company as well as the product. For a 
better understanding about design options for transportation networks, 

---

Notes
225
an example of a company has been taken which has many production 
plants, products and destination points (stockiest/customers).