MIT FreightLab
Driving Innovation within the Transportation Industry
What is the MIT FreightLab?
The MIT FreightLab mission is to drive innovation into the freight transportation industry in order to reduce cost, minimize risk, and increase the level of service. Freight transportation is subject to highly volatile demand and costs that are typically outside of a firm’s ability to control or even influence. This is compounded by a dominant design in terms of how freight is historically procured and managed. FreightLab research focuses on working with companies to develop and implement real-world solutions to these challenges.
FreightLab objectives are to develop innovations in freight transportation planning and operations and drive them into practice. Recently, we have developed methods for forecasting both short term spot-market rates and longer-term contract rates. We are exploring alternative contract forms between shippers and carriers that increase the level of trust in the relationship and yield better results for both parties. Working with a wide range of shippers, carriers, and third-party providers, the freight lab team develops and delivers better ways to design, procure, and manage large-scale freight transportation systems.
Our Research
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Our Team
Dr. Chris Caplice
Co-Director
Dr. David Correll
Co-Director
Dr. Jarrod Goentzel
Principal Research Scientist
Dr. Angi Acocella
Research Assistant
Dr. Josué Velázquez Martínez
Research Scientist
Shraddha Rana
Research Assistant
Updates from the Lab
Recapping “What Works and What Doesn’t at Truckload Freight Appointments?”
Last week, the FreightLab convened its first research update and discussion of 2022. The virtual session, entitled “What Works and What Doesn’t at Truckload Freight Appointments?” convened a group of 55 shippers, carriers, brokers, solutions vendors, and others to consider common problems in modern truckload pickup and delivery.
Modeling Operational Flow Capacity and Evaluating Disaster Interventions for Downstream Fuel Distribution: A Conversation with PhD Candidate Shraddha Rana
We spoke with Shraddha about her forthcoming paper, “Modeling Operational Flow Capacity and Evaluating Disaster Interventions for Downstream Fuel Distribution”, which evaluates how the flow fuel in the downstream distribution network can be increased to avoid shortages in times of distress, such as in the aftermath of disasters.
Chronicling the Twilight of the American Trucker: A Review of James H. Thomas’s The Long Haul
James H. Thomas’s 1979 book The Long Haul: Truckers, Truck Stops & Trucking, published by Memphis State University Press, is mostly a snapshot in time. It’s a picture of the state of American truck drivers and their place in the culture at a precarious moment.
Get In Touch
Interested in collaborating with us? Do you have a research idea?
Send us a note at freightlab@mit.edu to set up a time to discuss your ideas, questions, and transportation goals.