5. Conclusions and future research
Simulation models can be used at the highest level of detail to interact with and evaluate the policy recommendations of more aggregate optimization-based models. Such hybrid optimization/simulation approaches hold much promise for the development of network
optimization models. An alternative solution approach to large optimization problems is the development of heuristic techniques. A door assignment heuristic that makes assignments based on the freight volume is introduced and is shown to improve the performance of operations within an LTL terminal compared with the existing door assignments. Heuristic rules can be easily understood by managers and can be used to
form valuable guidelines for decentralized decision making on a local basis.
In this paper, the development of a discrete event simulation model for the benchmarking and analysis of LTL terminal operations is discussed. The simulation