Modal Selection Analysis of Depot Level Reparable Asset Retrograde Shipments within the Continental United States

Transportation modal choice for the Air Force retrograde movement of reparable assets within the CONUS is inflexible and is not synchronized with the depot repair process. Additionally, transportation coordinators are compelled by unsynchronized priorities and shipping policies to use express air modes in all cases when the use of LTL modes may be available to meet actual service level requirements at a lower cost. There may be cases where the retrograde shipments of reparable assets via an alternative transportation mode, such as LTL, can still meet fast transportation requirements at an even lower cost than can premium transportation. Historical retrograde shipment data of reparable assets was analyzed in terms of dollars to determine efficiencies resulting from various modal choices between express air and LTL modes. Additionally, the feature of consolidation was explored in portions of the analysis when LTL modes were selected.