Integrated Location Selection and Scheduling Problems for Inland Container Transportation

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This paper proposes an inland container transportation network with inland container depots (ICD) hubs and investigates the scheduling problem of empty container and truck dispatching in this network. A mixed-integer programming model is developed, and the model is validated through extensive instances. The results show that establishing ICD hubs in the inland container transportation network can effectively reduce the total cost and decrease the distance of empty truck runs. Furthermore, based on the distribution characteristics of real customers, three types of scenarios are generated: average distribution, clustering distribution, and random distribution. The impact of different numbers of ICDs on the total cost, the relationship between the number of ICDs and the total cost under different scenarios, and the effects of ICD settings under different customer distribution scenarios are analyzed.

The paper is in general well-written, and the produced results are tangible. The conclusions yielded are reasonable and insightful. I thus recommend publication.

Author Response

We appreciate the reviewer's approval of our article. We hope our work will enrich the field of inland container transportation problems. 

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

We thank the reviewer for the favorable comments. We have uploaded a formal response letter in attachment, to help the reviewer better understand how we improve the article based on the comments. 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

1.Could you kindly consider incorporating numerical results into the abstract to comprehensively assess the advancements and progress achieved in your research endeavor? Such inclusion of quantitative data would serve to enhance the clarity and credibility of your study, providing valuable insights to the readers.

2. I kindly request you to thoroughly identify and elucidate the research gap in the introduction section of your research. It is essential to explicitly address the key references that underpin your study and ascertain the weaknesses in those prior research works that can potentially be leveraged to address your stated problem. Additionally, please elucidate how you intend to extend this research to effectively tackle the aforementioned problem statement. By incorporating these crucial elements, the research gap can be comprehensively defined, thereby contributing to a more robust and well-defined research endeavor

3. In order to enhance the clarity and academic rigor of your research, it is recommended to include supportive references in the introduction. By incorporating relevant scholarly sources, you can effectively demonstrate the contextual foundation and identify the academic progress within the research field. This practice will not only enrich the credibility of your study but also provide readers with a comprehensive understanding of the broader scholarly landscape surrounding your research topic.

4. Please rovide graphical illustrations depicting the three types of scenario-based customer distributions designed in this study. The inclusion of these graphical representations will significantly enhance the clarity and comprehensibility of your research, enabling readers to better grasp the variations and nuances within the customer distributions under consideration. Your cooperation in presenting these visual aids would be greatly appreciated in contributing to the scholarly discourse of this academic work.

5. We respectfully suggest that you consider incorporating a dedicated "Discussion" section within your work. This section will enable you to engage in a scholarly discourse with fellow researchers, providing an opportunity to interpret your results in conjunction with existing research findings. By actively discussing the academic and policy implications of your research, you can contribute valuable insights to the academic community and offer potential pathways for further exploration. The inclusion of a robust "Discussion" section will foster a deeper understanding of your study's significance and relevance, encouraging constructive dialogue and knowledge dissemination.

6. It is kindly recommended to incorporate the numerical results into the "Conclusion" section of the manuscript. The inclusion of these numerical findings in the final section of your paper would reinforce the significance and credibility of your research outcomes. By presenting the numerical data in the conclusion, you enable readers to have a comprehensive understanding of the study's key outcomes and the implications drawn from the results. Your attention to this matter is greatly appreciated, as it contributes to the overall clarity and rigor of the academic discourse surrounding your research.

Author Response

We thank the reviewer for the favorable comments. We have uploaded a formal response letter in attachment, to help the reviewer better understand how we improve the article based on the comments. 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments have been addressed satisfactorily. Hence, the manuscript can be considered for possible publication.