Events

International airfreight forwarders are faced with the problem of consolidating shipments for effcient transportation by airline carriers. The use of standard unit loading devices (ULDs) is a solution adopted by the airfreight industry to speed up cargo loading, increase safety, and protect cargo. We study the airfreight consolidation problem from the forwarders perspective where a decision on the number of ULDs used and the assignment of shipments to ULDs is optimized. The cost of using a ULD consists of a fixed charge and depends on the weight of the cargo it contains.