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09 Jul 2025, 10:28
Kudos
Bookmarks
A large retailer operates a limited fleet of same-day-delivery trucks. For years, each neighborhood delivery hub has been assigned the same number of trucks, regardless of the daily order volume in that neighborhood. To shorten overall delivery times, senior management now plans to let neighborhood hubs trade truck assignments freely. Management argues that trading will move more trucks to the neighborhoods that rely on them most intensively, thereby reducing average delivery time across the company.
The missing assumption or rather the missing information is that will more trucks reduce average delivery time.
(A) Whether neighborhood hubs facing tighter shipping deadlines currently use their trucks more frequently than other neighborhoodsReduced delivery time may not necessarily corresponds to frequently using trucks. It may be the case that volume of shipping is more in early morning while during rest of day the trucks are idle. Incorrect
(B) Whether neighborhood hubs currently using trucks more intensively achieve shorter delivery times due to having more trucks.If this is true then using more trucks by a intensive hub will achieve the goal of average delivery time reduction. Correct
(C) Whether using the company’s own trucks reduces delivery time more effectively than outsourcing to third-party carriersIrrelevant to discussion
(D) Whether certain neighborhood hubs currently have idle trucks at any point during the day This option is actually a genesis of option A. A hubs may or may not have idle trucks at any point of day but it might not help in reducing average delivery time. Although this may be the particular reason why the plan is being presented, to use idle trucks or less utilized trucks of one hub at other hub. Incorrect
(E) Whether neighborhood hubs will be required to record truck-trading activity in a central scheduling systemIrrelevant to discussion
The missing assumption or rather the missing information is that will more trucks reduce average delivery time.
(A) Whether neighborhood hubs facing tighter shipping deadlines currently use their trucks more frequently than other neighborhoodsReduced delivery time may not necessarily corresponds to frequently using trucks. It may be the case that volume of shipping is more in early morning while during rest of day the trucks are idle. Incorrect
(B) Whether neighborhood hubs currently using trucks more intensively achieve shorter delivery times due to having more trucks.If this is true then using more trucks by a intensive hub will achieve the goal of average delivery time reduction. Correct
(C) Whether using the company’s own trucks reduces delivery time more effectively than outsourcing to third-party carriersIrrelevant to discussion
(D) Whether certain neighborhood hubs currently have idle trucks at any point during the day This option is actually a genesis of option A. A hubs may or may not have idle trucks at any point of day but it might not help in reducing average delivery time. Although this may be the particular reason why the plan is being presented, to use idle trucks or less utilized trucks of one hub at other hub. Incorrect
(E) Whether neighborhood hubs will be required to record truck-trading activity in a central scheduling systemIrrelevant to discussion
09 Jul 2025, 10:43
Kudos
Bookmarks
Bunuel
From the argument, we know that
Current system: Equal truck allocation, regardless of demand.
New plan: Let hubs trade trucks freely.
Goal: More trucks go where they’re used more intensively, reducing overall delivery time.
Pre-Thinking : We want to assess if allowing trading will actually reduce delivery times, i.e., if trucks are not already used efficiently, and if reallocating them can help.
Now let's do the POE ::
(A) Whether neighborhood hubs facing tighter shipping deadlines currently use their trucks more frequently than other neighborhoods Irrelevant.
(B) Whether neighborhood hubs currently using trucks more intensively achieve shorter delivery times due to having more trucks In line with our prethinking, If increasing the trucks will make them more efficient, helpful, otherwise no. Hence valid choice.
(C) Whether using the company’s own trucks reduces delivery time more effectively than outsourcing to third-party carriers Irrelevant.
(D) Whether certain neighborhood hubs currently have idle trucks at any point during the day Irrelevant. Slightly +ve. We don't have info on Avg delivery time.
(E) Whether neighborhood hubs will be required to record truck-trading activity in a central scheduling system Irrelevant.
Hence IMO B.
09 Jul 2025, 10:59
Kudos
Bookmarks
Current Situation: Each delivery hub gets a fixed number of company-owned delivery vehicles, regardless of the order volume in that area. Goal: Allow hubs to "trade" their vehicles freely, shifting more cars to hubs with higher order volumes and more frequent use, reducing the company's average delivery time.
Key Assumptions/Evaluation Points
For this "vehicle trading" to potentially shorten the average delivery time, the following must hold:
a. Some hubs face vehicle shortages due to high orders and high demand.
b. Other hubs have vehicles idle during certain times.
c. These idle vehicles can be traded and quickly fill the gaps in busy hubs.
d. Additional vehicles reduce delivery time in those hubs.
Which piece of information best indicates whether the key conditions exist?
Among a∼d, management mostly assumes that hubs with high order volumes need more vehicles, and that more vehicles mean faster deliveries, which is generally true. The most uncertain aspect that directly impacts whether "vehicle trading" is feasible is that there must be truly "idle vehicles" available for trading; otherwise, no vehicles can be shifted, and the plan cannot be implemented.
Option D provides the exact information:
"Do some hubs have delivery vehicles idle at any time of the day?"
If the answer is "yes, there are idle vehicles," it means there's a source of vehicles for trading. If the answer is "no idle vehicles anywhere," then there's no vehicle to shift, and the trading mechanism is useless.
Therefore, to evaluate whether this plan can shorten overall delivery time, Option D is the most helpful.
Key Assumptions/Evaluation Points
For this "vehicle trading" to potentially shorten the average delivery time, the following must hold:
a. Some hubs face vehicle shortages due to high orders and high demand.
b. Other hubs have vehicles idle during certain times.
c. These idle vehicles can be traded and quickly fill the gaps in busy hubs.
d. Additional vehicles reduce delivery time in those hubs.
Which piece of information best indicates whether the key conditions exist?
Among a∼d, management mostly assumes that hubs with high order volumes need more vehicles, and that more vehicles mean faster deliveries, which is generally true. The most uncertain aspect that directly impacts whether "vehicle trading" is feasible is that there must be truly "idle vehicles" available for trading; otherwise, no vehicles can be shifted, and the plan cannot be implemented.
Option D provides the exact information:
"Do some hubs have delivery vehicles idle at any time of the day?"
If the answer is "yes, there are idle vehicles," it means there's a source of vehicles for trading. If the answer is "no idle vehicles anywhere," then there's no vehicle to shift, and the trading mechanism is useless.
Therefore, to evaluate whether this plan can shorten overall delivery time, Option D is the most helpful.
