Distinguished Lecture — Prof. Simona Sacone

IEEE ITSS Germany Chapter Distinguished Lecture Series 2026 #04

Prof. Simona Sacone (University of Genoa) will give a talk entitled “Horizontal Cooperation Schemes in Container Transportation.”

Event Details

Abstract

Road container transport plays a crucial role in improving sustainability objectives, as it is responsible for a significant share of road congestion, pollutant emissions, and energy consumption. This talk highlights cooperation among freight carriers as a complementary and powerful lever to enhance both economic and environmental sustainability. By sharing transport orders, carriers can reduce the number of vehicles required to satisfy demand, thereby increasing profitability while lowering emissions and local pollution.

A cooperative planning framework is presented that integrates heterogeneous fleets of diesel and electric trucks, time-window constraints, and operational limitations specific to electric vehicles. The approach enables the coordinated assignment of transport tasks across multiple carriers and incorporates emission costs directly into the optimization objective. A compensation mechanism is also introduced to ensure fair benefit sharing and to incentivize cooperation.

The talk closes with a real-world case study from the port of Genoa, with insights on scalability and computational performance.

Topics Covered

• Cooperation among freight carriers as a lever to reduce emissions and improve efficiency
• A cooperative planning framework for joint assignment of transport orders across carriers
• Modeling heterogeneous fleets with diesel and electric trucks, including EV-specific constraints
• Integration of emission costs and a compensation mechanism for fair benefit sharing
• A real-world case study from the port of Genoa with insights on scalability and computation

How to Join

• Add to calendar: https://addcal.io/e/9hzvi9dzyl13
• Zoom Meeting: https://fau.zoom-x.de/j/64456976481
• Meeting ID: 644 5697 6481

For more information, visit the IEEE ITSS Germany Chapter page.

Note: The original announcement listed CET, but this event falls after the European summer time change (March 29), so CEST applies. Please double-check the exact time closer to the event.