Enhancing Transportation Supply Chain Resilience Through HR Practices: A Task-Typed Reasoning Module-Enhanced RAG Expert System Framework

Ren, J ORCID: 0000-0003-4640-824X and Tobora, OO (2026) Enhancing Transportation Supply Chain Resilience Through HR Practices: A Task-Typed Reasoning Module-Enhanced RAG Expert System Framework. Sustainability, 18 (16).

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Abstract

The transportation sector faces growing supply chain disruptions driven by workforce shortages, digital skills gaps, and weak cultural readiness for risk. Human Resource Management (HRM) offers a credible path toward stronger supply chain resilience (SCR), yet existing decision support tools lack the formal reasoning and auditability that systematic HR risk assessment requires. This paper proposes a Task-Typed Reasoning Module-Enhanced Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) Expert System framework for HR-driven risk assessment in transportation supply chains. The framework employs a six-layer architecture integrating four core components: a Task-Aware RAG layer for knowledge extraction from heterogeneous HR documents, a Task-Routed Evidence Extractor for risk factor identification and source reliability scoring, a Task-Based Reasoning Core applying weighted Mamdani fuzzy inference, and a Task-Guided Synthesis Module using Dempster–Shafer evidential reasoning for risk profiling. Task-Typed Reasoning Modules (TTRMs) organise reasoning into reusable, adaptable units covering Likelihood, Impact, Vulnerability, Mitigation, and Prioritisation, refined through an expert-gated feedback loop. Applied to an illustrative UK transportation logistics case study, the framework ranked HR-driven workforce risks, quantified uncertainty through belief-plausibility intervals, and generated traceable recommendations linked to four HRM-SCR dimensions. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, the framework provides a conceptual foundation for HR risk management in transportation, extending expert system reasoning through adaptive AI to offer mathematically grounded, traceable outputs for practitioners and researchers; empirical validation in live organisational settings remains a necessary next step. By formalising the human dimension of resilience, the framework contributes toward socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable transportation supply chains, aligning HR risk management with the sustainable development objectives examined in this study.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	12 Built Environment and Design
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HE Transportation and Communications T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
Divisions:	Civil Engineering and Built Environment
Publisher:	MDPI AG
Date of acceptance:	29 July 2026
Date of first compliant Open Access:	10 August 2026
Date Deposited:	10 Aug 2026 08:41
Last Modified:	10 Aug 2026 08:41
DOI or ID number:	10.3390/su18168036
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/29125

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