Dynamic Pool Segmentation Model and Algorithm in the Car Rental Industry

Abstract

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;" align="left"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Pool segmentation is an essential step in the logistics management process for large-scale car rental business. Its main function involves dynamic decisions about pools clustering and regional logistics management centers selecting, whose goal is to optimize fleet utilization and improve the logistics management efficiency. According to developing mode of car rental enterprises and layout of leasing sites, a three-tier structure is presented to describe the logistics management relations among each leasing sites. Based on the logistics operation characteristics and practical administration demand, a dynamic model and its algorithm are proposed for pool segmentation in the car rental industry. A case study shows that the proposed methodology is feasible and effective. <em></em></span></span></span></p&gt

Fleet and revenue management in car rental companies: A literature review and an integrated conceptual framework

“…However, some of the works tackling the same problem diered signicantly on the assumptions made and issues considered. Regarding pool segmentation, the works of Yang et al (2009) and Pachon et al (2006) dier on the decisions, as the former work decides not only how the rental locations should be grouped in pools but also which location in each pool should be the pool logistics coordination center. As for eet size, some works consider more detailed supply conditions on the acquisitions/removals issues, e.g.…”

“…Other relevant works: developing the eld Designing eet-sharing pools Following the framework proposed by Pachon et al (2006) and starting with the arguably most long-term and strategic decision pool segmentation , it is possible to conclude that it has not received much attention from the research community. Yang et al (2009) study the problem of grouping locations in pools with the objective of minimizing the number of pools with a similar approach to the one proposed by Pachon et al (2006), yet they also consider the decision on the pool logistic center, i.e. the rental station that will be coordinating the shared eet.…”

“…Uncertainty Some papers address deterministic versions of the problems in car rental eet management (Conejero et al, 2014;Madden and Russell, 2012;Ernst et al, 2011;Hertz et al, 2009;Yang et al, 2009). All of those that consider uncertainty in the process, focus on demand for a specic product, which is thus the most relevant uncertain factor in these problems.…”

“…The pool segmentation main problem is to decide how to group rental locations into eet-sharing pools. The reported time horizons for this decision were of 3 to 6 months (Yang et al, 2009). In fact, this decision is not necessarily rigid and can be updated more than once in a year to deal with changes in demand, among other factors.…”

Review of the practice of porter s general competitive strategies in car rental enterprises

“…In this case, it can be regarded as TOURISM + BUSINESS + LOCAL market (Geraghty and Johnson, 1997: 109). A number of international car rental giants in the sector including Europcar, Hertz, Avis Budget, Sixt, Alamo, Zipcar, Dollar and Enterprise, as well as many local enterprises are operating in the region (Yang et al, 2009(Yang et al, : 1202. The car rental sector takes place in two forms: long-term car rentals (more than 12 months) and short-term car rentals (hourly/daily /monthly).…”