A Freight Mode Choice to Transport Oil Products Using an Artificial Neural Network Model

Transporting oil products by truck has many issues, including increased accident risk, adverse environmental effects, and increased congestion in traffic. This study aims to compare trucks and trains for transporting fuel oil between intercity locations and to develop freight mode-choice models using an artificial neural network and statistical software. Freight trips collected in this study are (277) collected by a tracking device, questionnaires, and personal interviews. The data included the delivery time, average speed, quantity transported per trip, and transportation cost. According to the findings, the average speed of trucks and trains is (48.79) km/h and (24.13) km/h, respectively. This indicates that the average speed of a truck is nearly twice that of a train. Trucks and trains have average delivery times of (12.40) h and (25.92) h, respectively. This indicates that the average delivery time for a truck is half that of a train. The quantity transported each trip is (993.16) tons/trip for trains and (30.47) tons/trip for trucks. Train transportation is approximately 33 times as costly per trip as truck transportation. Transportation by train is a cheaper option than transportation by truck. Establishing an effective schedule can reduce delays at freight train intersections and during railway maintenance, potentially reducing delivery time by approximately 20 hours.