We develop a quick and approximate way to address the fleet sizing problem for transporters
with non-stationary demands and uncertain trip times. Non-stationary demands
are modeled using Markov-modulated Poisson process (MMPP) and the variable fleet
size is modeled using multi-server queuing construct (MMPP(2)=M=C queue). The
customer service level is expressed by the probability that a customer on arrival waits for
availability of trucks. The waiting time probabilities are estimated from the steady-state
probabilities, which are obtained from the solution of the continuous-time Markov chain.
We demonstrate the fleet-sizing approach for a transporter with two level of demand
rates and exponentially distributed truck unavailable times.