The concept of public logistics terminals (multi-company distribution cente
rs) has been proposed in Japan to help alleviate traffic congestion, enviro
nment, energy and labor costs. These facilities allow more efficient logist
ics systems to be established and they facilitate the implementation of adv
anced information systems and cooperative freight systems. This paper descr
ibes a mathematical model developed for determining the optimal size and lo
cation of public logistics terminals. Queuing theory and nonlinear programm
ing techniques are used to determine the best solution. The model explicitl
y takes into account traffic conditions in the network and was successfully
applied to an actual road network in the Kyoto-Osaka area in Japan. (C) 19
99 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.