Fuzzy AHP Approach for Route Selection in Multimodal Transportation: The Case of Coal Industry in Thailand

Abstract

In recent years, Thailand has looked to reduce the costs of logistics and transportation to remain competitive. Currently, road transportation is still the main part of Thailand's logistics. The utilization of railway and waterway transportation has increased in recent years. The importance of multimodal transportation has increased significantly as it is a key solution to help reduce the cost of Thailand’s logistics system. By deciding the best route, several companies can save transport costs, time, and increase competitive advantage. However, this problem is complicated in terms of route selection, multiple conflicting criteria, and vague and inaccurate parameters. Moreover, the uncertainty and imprecision of experts’ opinions are a significant characteristic of the problem. Therefore, this paper contributes a Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) tool as a Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) that embeds the fuzzy logic into a basic Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). This tool is used for route selection in multimodal transportation with a case study of a coal transportation company in Thailand. The main attributes considered are transportation cost, transportation time, and seven risks of transportation. The results showed that the approach can effectively provide guidance for determining the priority ranking of different multimodal routes.