Biography

SALVADOR HERNANDEZ, Ph.D.  Dr. Sal Hernandez is an Associate Professor of Transportation Engineering and the founding Principal Investigator of the Transportation Safety and Logistics Laboratory (TranSaL) at Oregon State University's School of Civil and Construction Engineering. He also serves as the Associate Director of Engagement for the Center for Freight Transportation for Efficient and Resilient Supply Chain (FERSC) as USDOT University Transportation Center (UTC). With over 15 years of experience, he specializes in leveraging large-scale disaggregate datasets to develop strategic, tactical, and operational models that effectively address transportation safety, supply chain, and logistics challenges.
     Dr. Hernandez's research interests and expertise extend to methodological advancements in econometric and mathematical modeling of consumer behavior. His investigations delve into the behavior of individuals (such as truck drivers), groups, and organizations, shedding light on their activities related to safety, purchase, utilization, and disposal of goods and services.
     To date, Dr. Hernandez has made substantial contributions through his publication of over 65 technical papers, conference proceedings, and research reports. Furthermore, his exceptional research has attracted external funding exceeding $16 million from esteemed organizations such as the USDA, FHWA/UTC, US DEPT EDU, TxDOT, ITD, ODOT, CAIT-UTC, PacTrans, FERSC, El Paso MPO, and CliPs.
     In his work, Dr. Hernandez harnesses his extensive knowledge and experience to devise innovative solutions for the intricate and multifaceted challenges inherent in transportation systems. He merges insights from social sciences and computational sciences to generate meaningful approaches in the fields of Transportation Safety, Freight Logistics, Transportation Systems Modeling, and Disaster Management. By combining the development of cutting-edge, science-based methodologies with practical applications and implementation, he strives to create tangible and impactful outcomes.

Dr. Hernandez is a current member of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Committees on:

  • Statistical and Econometric Methods (AED60)
  • Trucking Industry Research (AT060)

Past Committees

Current member of the following Editorial Boards:

Past 

Education 

Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, 2010
Major Area: Transportation and Infrastructure Systems
Dissertation: “Modeling of Collaborative Less-Than-Truckload Carrier Freight Networks
Supervisor: Dr. Srinivas Peeta

Brigham Young University, Provo, UT M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2003
Major Area: Transportation Engineering
Thesis: “Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Coordinated Ramp Meter Controls”
Supervisor: Dr. Mitsuru Saito

Brigham Young University, Provo, UT B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2001
Minor in Mathematics, December 2001