Economic Analysis Of Hub-and-Spoke Network In The Domestic Container Shipping

Due to the global financial crisis, China has taken the economic policies to expand domestic demand, and as a result, the domestic container transportation has got a great development. With the increasing cargo flow, the economy of hub-and-spoke network has become even more prominent. Until now, the research of hub-and-spoke network in the domestic container shipping is very limited, and the economic analysis of this network is also less involved. This paper has summarized the relevant study, establishes a model based on the characteristics of domestic container transportation, and then analyses the economy of the ship type and the transfer problem. In the end, the result is obtained by an example.This paper is divided into five aspects:the first chapter introduces the background and the meaning of this research, plus the summary of relevant study on hub-and-spoke network and domestic container transportation. The second chapter analyses the market conditions, routing, factors of hub-and-spoke network, capacity of shipping lines and port condition of the state. According to the characteristics of domestic trade, chapter three establishes the model from the shipping company and cargo owner point of views separately, obtains the optimal solution and analyses the economy of the transfer problem. Chapter four takes Tianjin-Guangzhou route as an example to verify the model of chapter three and gets the optimal ship type, then discuss transfer problem from Tianjin to Xiamen. At last, make a sensitivity analysis of the factors of hub-and-spoke network. Chapter five achieves the macro-economic evaluation and the future application and development of hub-and-spoke network in the domestic container transportation.Through this research, the economic model of hub-and-spoke network is practical by an actual example. This study provides a useful reference in routing optimization, ship selection and transfer decision to a shipping company.