Decision onRegional Logistics Network Based on H-S and P-P Network: Taking Tobacco Transportation Logistics as anExample

Objectives: The logistics hub construction has always been the short board of logistics network planning in China. In order to improve the decision-making efficiency of logistics enterprise’s hub selection and reduce its comprehensive operation cost, this paper establishes a cost difference model for hub-and-spoke(H-S) and point-to-point(P-P) networks considering the fixed cost of hubs, transportation and route costs based on the 0-1 integer nonlinear programming. The model aims at minimizing the cost difference between the two networks, and divides the fixed cost of the hubs into three situations: full lease, lease and self-built, and fully self-built. Finally, this paper takes tobacco transportation logistics as an example, and use particle swarm algorithm to solve the model by using tobacco transportation logistics data of a logistics enterprise in Jiangsu Province. The results show that: (i) in the case of complete leasing, the total cost of the H-S network decreases with the increase of the number of hubs, and the cost change has a point of intersection with the total cost of the P-P network;(ii) when the lease and self-build are mixed, the increase is first reduced and then increased, it is U-shaped and has a minimum value, and there are two intersections with the total cost of the P-P network;(iii) the situation of completely self-built and fully leased is just the opposite. This paper takes tobacco transportation logistics as a representative, and provides a reference for logistics companies to choose the appropriate regional logistics network structure and different pivot points.

Construction stakeholders’ perceived benefits and barriers for environment-friendly modular construction in a hospitality centric environment

Modular construction techniques can not only significantly contribute to improved project cost, schedule, and quality performance, but also sustainability by reducing site disruption and waste generated, creating better relocatability and reusability. However, there are still difficulties in developing and implementing modularization in a hospitality centric environment. Thus, the primary goal of this research is to identify the opportunities and challenges of implementing sustainable modular construction techniques in a hospitality-centric environment. In this study, the approach includes the formulation of a survey, which was distributed to 600 industry professionals in Las Vegas and completed by 63 industry professionals, followed by three personal interviews. The results showed that: 1) 85% percent of survey participants expected an improvement in schedule, and 65% of that elected to use a form of modularization actually experienced an improved schedule; 2) 62% of the participants claimed that they would keep using modular methods in the next 12 months, whereas 44% of the participants claimed they would increase their use of modularization in the next five years; 3) two of the top five expected benefits achieved included less site disruption (noise/traffic and dust) and reduced waste, which contribute towards sustainable construction; 4) transportation/logistics was selected by industry professionals as a key barrier in the implementation of modular construction; 5) to implement more sustainable construction, practitioners require additional research to improve and overcome the key barrier of transportation/logistics; 6) if construction professionals gain more modular project experience, their perceived benefits and barriers could increase and decrease, respectively. The results from this research provide valuable insights for implementing sustainable modular methods in hospitality-centric environments.

Educational activities of the Road Transport Inspection

The aim of this article is to describe educational activities concerning improvement of road safety taken by the [Polish] Road Transport Inspection. In order to build awareness of our society some actions should be taken at the earliest age and involve many different institutions, not only schools. The authors show how the Road Transport Inspection fulfils this assumption by creating “Bezpieczna Szkoła Krokodylka Tirka” (‘Crocodile Tirek's School of Safety’), organising lessons about road safety in hospitals, high schools or lectures on conferences, fairs and other events concerning transportation, logistics and shipping. The Engagement of the Road Transport Inspection in education and media campaigns involving road safety has been discussed in the range of years 2018-2020 and it shows the dynamic development of the unit on this field. Our analysis indicates that the most effective in education is combination of both theory and practise or sharing by officers, their knowledge and work experience with the audience. The biggest challenge, on the contrary, is to bring all this activities to the Internet, which is necessary especially because of coronavirus pandemic.

Excess mortality associated with the COVID-19 pandemic among Californians 18–65 years of age, by occupational sector and occupation: March through November 2020

Background Though SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks have been documented in occupational settings and in-person essential work has been suspected as a risk factor for COVID-19, occupational differences in excess mortality have, to date, not been examined. Such information could point to opportunities for intervention, such as vaccine prioritization or regulations to enforce safer work environments. Methods and findings Using autoregressive integrated moving average models and California Department of Public Health data representing 356,188 decedents 18–65 years of age who died between January 1, 2016 and November 30, 2020, we estimated pandemic-related excess mortality by occupational sector and occupation, with additional stratification of the sector analysis by race/ethnicity. During these first 9 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, working-age adults experienced 11,628 more deaths than expected, corresponding to 22% relative excess and 46 excess deaths per 100,000 living individuals. Sectors with the highest relative and per-capita excess mortality were food/agriculture (39% relative excess; 75 excess deaths per 100,000), transportation/logistics (31%; 91 per 100,000), manufacturing (24%; 61 per 100,000), and facilities (23%; 83 per 100,000). Across racial and ethnic groups, Latino working-age Californians experienced the highest relative excess mortality (37%) with the highest excess mortality among Latino workers in food and agriculture (59%; 97 per 100,000). Black working-age Californians had the highest per-capita excess mortality (110 per 100,000), with relative excess mortality highest among transportation/logistics workers (36%). Asian working-age Californians had lower excess mortality overall, but notable relative excess mortality among health/emergency workers (37%), while White Californians had high per-capita excess deaths among facilities workers (70 per 100,000). Conclusions Certain occupational sectors are associated with high excess mortality during the pandemic, particularly among racial and ethnic groups also disproportionately affected by COVID-19. In-person essential work is a likely venue of transmission of coronavirus infection and must be addressed through vaccination and strict enforcement of health orders in workplace settings.