Optimal and Safe Route for Freight Transportation in Rural Areas (Report No. CR2C2-2025-P3-1)

This report presents a set of innovative, data-driven methodologies developed to enhance freight mobility and safety in rural areas, focusing specifically on case studies in Florida, Kentucky, and North Carolina. Recognizing the unique logistical challenges of rural freight transportation, including dispersed demand, infrastructure limitations, and safety risks, three distinct yet complementary studies were conducted. The first introduces a Multi-Objective Inventory Routing Problem in a Multi-Graph with Backhauls (MO IRPMGB), optimized through a modified NSGA II algorithm and applied to a Walmart distribution network in rural Florida. The second study implements a logit-based K-shortest path assignment model to identify high-tonnage, critical freight corridors within Kentucky, improving upon traditional traffic assignment methods by capturing more realistic routing behavior. The third study develops a spatial optimization framework to prioritize truck parking infrastructure investments in North Carolina, integrating crash risk, accessibility, and truck traffic data to support budget-aware decision-making. This transformative approach for planning will enhance the mobility, safety, and efficiency of digital and physical transportation infrastructure and services in rural areas. Ultimately, these efforts aim to make freight transportation not only smarter and safer but also more efficient for the communities that depend on it.