GUEST EDITORIAL Special Issue of INFOR on HAZARDOUS MATERIALS LOGISTICS

摘要

When I was asked by Gilbert Laporte, the then editor of INFOR, to prepare a special issue of INFOR on hazardous materials logistics, the first goal I set for the special issue was diversity. Primarily, I wanted a healthy balance of theory and practice, but I also wanted geographical diversity. Two problems common in other areas of operations research plague this area as well: a gap between theory and practice, and a gap between Europe and North America. I recruited the papers for this issue in an attempt to close these gaps, however marginally. I am quite satisfied with the finished product. Three papers in this issue describe a real-world consulting project, and another three papers use a real-world network to demonstrate the model they describe. Clearly, this is not an issue written by academics for academics. International diversity has been achieved as well. The twenty authors have affiliations in seven different countries; a third of the authors have European affiliations.