Vessel-to-Rail Intermodal Connectivity Analysis for The Port of Houston

Freight transportation is a crucial element of the economy and development of regions. Still, its dramatic growth in the road sector is rapidly offsetting the benefits through such impacts as congestion, noise, pollution, and environmental damage. Alternative transportation solutions such as a combined transportation network can help to reduce these impacts. Container rail-water intermodal transportation broadly means with the premise of rail transportation and water transportation as the primary, compatible with other modes of transportation to accomplish the complete transfer of the containers. As a fast-growing port, the Port of Houston Authority has grown to be very important because of its large tonnage handling capacity and its impact on the nation\u27s economy. With the growth in the economy which results in increased port activities, the port of Houston is gradually approaching capacity and sees the need for expansion of infrastructure needed for service efficiency provided. This study aims to identify the critical components of a vessel-rail intermodal system, analyze the significance of each of them, compare the competitiveness of the Port of Houston among the similar ports, pinpoint the gap between the existing condition and state of the art practices. The report will also focus on the feasibility of the Rail Intermodal System compared to the truck freight of the Port of Houston. Based on the existing intermodal system of the Port of Houston, the report will help identify critical factors and recommend processes that will promote the competitiveness of the system in handling and servicing future economic growth

An Investigation to Evaluate the Feasibility of an Intermodal Freight Transport System.

The threat of greenhouse gases and the resulting climate change have been causing concern at international levels. This has led towards new sustainable policies towards reducing the anthropogenic effects on the environment and the population through promoting sustainable solutions for the freight industry. The research was prompted by the growing concerns that were no mode-choice tool to select as an alternative to road freight transport. There were growing concerns that a large percentage of transport related negativities, related various costs and pollution costs, losses arising from traffic accidents, delay costs from congestion and abatement costs due to climate impacts of transport, etc., were not being borne by the user. Economists have defined them as external costs. Internalising these external costs has been regarded as an efficient way to share the transport related costs. The aim of this research was to construct a freight mode choice model, based on total transport costs, as a mode choice substitution tool. This model would allow the feasibility of choosing alternative intermodal system to a primarily ‘road system’. The thesis postulates a novel model in computing total freight transport costs incurred during the total transit of goods along three North European transport corridors. The model evaluated the total costs summing the internal, external and time costs for varied mode choices from unimodal and the second level of intermodal transport systems. The research outcomes have shown the influences of total costs on the shipper and the preferred mode choices from the available mode/route options with sustainable transport solutions. The impacts of such alternatives were evaluated in this research. This will allow the embedding of intermodal infrastructures as sustainable and alternative mode choices for the freight industry

Metsäbiomassan toimitusketjujen arvoa lisäävä innovointi

The aim of this work was to study how process innovation can be applied in forest biomass supply chains for reducing costs to add value compared to traditional supply chains. The work consisted of four articles using alternative data and a variety of methods. The process innovation of forest biomass supply chains contains several possibilities. There is a need to identify which processes should be renewed incrementally or completely. The main innovation types determined by the case articles were divided into incremental, radical and network innovation. Achieving cost reduction was possible by innovating traditional forest biomass supply chain processes in a novel way in all cases. The case of network innovation however, presenting the co-operation of an entire supply chain with stakeholders by linking forest management and logistics business systems together in process innovation, provided the highest cost reduction, which can be seen as added value. This is because network innovation includes several structural holes with close connections between processes and systems that offer the possibility of finding more cost reduction potential for the entire supply chain. The main conclusion of this work is that it is not worth implementing innovation solely inside a company´s own activities, but opening the innovation process for the whole network of a supply chain is crucial. The methods presented in this work could be mainly applied in forest biomass supply chain innovation. The work enhanced the knowledge of innovation usage for forest biomass supply chains.Työn tavoitteena oli tutkia, kuinka prosessi-innovointia voidaan soveltaa metsäbiomassan toimitusketjuihin vähentämään kustannuksia lisäten arvoa verrattuna perinteisiin toimitusketjuihin. Työ koostui neljästä artikkelista, joissa käytettiin vaihtelevia aineistoja ja menetelmiä. Metsäbiomassan toimitusketjujen prosessi-innovointi sisältää useita mahdollisuuksia. Tarpeena on tunnistaa, mitä prosesseja pitäisi uudistaa olemassa olevaa järjestelmää hieman parantamalla ja mitkä pitäisi uudistaa kokonaan. Innovoinnin päätyypit, joita tapausartikkeleissa tutkittiin, jaettiin lisäykselliseen, radikaaliin ja verkostomaiseen innovointiin. Kustannussäästöjä voitiin saavuttaa kaikissa tapauksissa innovoimalla perinteisiä toimitusketjuja uudella tavalla. Verkostoinnovoinnin tapaustutkimuksessa, joka esitteli toimitusketjun kokonaisuutta yhdistämällä metsänkasvatuksen ja logistiikan liiketoimintajärjestelmiä yhteen, saavutettiin kuitenkin suurimmat kustannussäästöt. Tähän on syynä se, että verkostoinnovointi sisältää useita rakenteellisia aukkoja, joilla on läheiset yhteydet prosessien ja järjestelmien välillä. Nämä tarjoaa mahdollisuuden löytää enemmän kustannussäästöjä osana kokonaista toimitusketjua. Tärkein johtopäätös on, ettei innovointia kannata toteuttaa pelkästään yhtiön sisäisenä toimintona, vaan koko toimitusketjun verkoston innovointiprosessin avaaminen on ratkaisevaa. Tässä työssä esiteltyjä menetelmiä voidaan soveltaa pääasiassa metsäbiomassan toimitusketjujen innovoinnissa. Työ lisäsi tietämystä innovoinnin käyttömahdollisuudesta metsäbiomassan toimitusketjuissa

An analysis of the challenges and opportunities facing the Hong Kong logistics industry

Hong Kong freight forwarding services have flourished along with China's economic development. Manufacturing activities in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) have provided the Hong Kong logistics sector with many business opportunities. However, due to the changes in the business environment, the industry is facing many challenges: competition from other local logistics companies in China, a shrinking market share on the shipping side, and increasing operating costs. The study aims to answer two questions: will the PRD continue to serve as the manufacturing powerhouse of the world and will exporters in the PRD continue to use Hong Kong:5 airport and port? The findings of this research will help academia and practitioners better understand the opportunities and challenges facing the Hong Kong logistics industry. This research was carried out in two phases. First, the author conducted exploratory interviews with manufacturers, logistics service providers, and government officials. Second, two questionnaires (one for manufacturers and one for logistics service providers) were designed based on the interviews and the literature review. The results of this two-stage analysis indicate that manufacturing in the PRD will continue to demand forwarding logistics support from Hong Kong because the latter continues to offer competitive advantage in several aspects compared with competitors in China. The Hong Kong government's pro-business attitude has helped to maintain Hong Kong's competitive advantage as a logistics hub; thus, the integration of Hong Kong and PRD logistics service providers has further enhanced this advantage in the PRD. Finally, based on these findings, a number of recommendations are offered. The empirical part of the research was completed before the onset of the 2008/9 recession; hence, no reference to its effect has been included in this thesis. The work also excludes any specific reference to the issues of carbon footprints and related environmental concerns because these are not primary issues for the industry as seen by the governments of the PRD region

A study of the utilisation of East London harbour and its relative importance in the South African import and export trade, to 1975

From Ch. 1: The object of this study is to consider the utilisation of East London Harbour and its relative importance in the South African import and export trade to 1975. The principal harbours of the Republic of South Africa are Table Bay (Cape TOwn), Algoa Bay (Port Elizabeth), Buffalo Harbour (East London) and Durban, and Walvis Bay in South West Africa. Small harbours suitable only for coastal shipping are Mossel Bay, Simonstown, Lamberts Bay, St. Helena Bay and Port Nolloth in the Republic and LUderitz in South West Africa. Two harbours, Saldanha Bay and Richards Bay are at present being built. The ports of the Republic of South Africa and South West Africa are owned by the Government, are constructed, controlled and operated by the South African Railways and Harbours Administration, under the direction of the Minister of Transport, and are managed by the General Manager, whose headquarters are in Johannesburg

SPATIAL TRANSFORMATION PATTERN DUE TO COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY IN KAMPONG HOUSE

ABSTRACT Kampung houses are houses in kampung area of the city. Kampung House oftenly transformed into others use as urban dynamics. One of the transfomation is related to the commercial activities addition by the house owner. It make house with full private space become into mixused house with more public spaces or completely changed into full public commercial building. This study investigate the spatial transformation pattern of the kampung houses due to their commercial activities addition. Site observations, interviews and questionnaires were performed to study the spatial transformation. This study found that in kampung houses, the spatial transformation pattern was depend on type of commercial activities and owner perceptions, and there are several steps of the spatial transformation related the commercial activity addition. Keywords: spatial transformation pattern; commercial activity; owner perception, kampung house; adaptabilit

Port choice: A frequency-based container assignment model

The process of containerization has connected the world with a cost-effective freight service, successfully forming a competitive global market. Mixed freight shipping has changed dramatically due to containerization and globalization. The port system has experienced a tough time keeping pace with globalisation in terms of its roles and functions in liner shipping. Consequently, port choice has become a challenging problem to analyse with many stakeholders and complex circumstances. The literature formulating the basis of this maritime container assignment model can be identified as a combination of port choice modelling, a freight flow model and empty container repositioning. It is observed that the maritime container assignment problem shares a greater affinity with transit assignment than with traffic assignment conventionally applied freight in the four step approach, because containers are generally carried by shipping lines which operate services on fixed routes or port rotations. A model capable of representing full and empty container flows at a global level would be useful to almost every stakeholder in the container liner shipping industry, such as shippers, shipping lines, port authorities, terminal operating companies, regional and national planning authorities, marine insurance companies, and others. The classic frequency-based transit assignment approach of Spiess and Florian is transferred and applied to maritime containers as the foundation for a global maritime container assignment model. The first version of this model assigned full and empty containers to routes to minimise expected travel time, which consists of sailing time between ports and dwell time at intermediate transhipment ports. Service frequency and port capacity influence the pattern of full and empty container flows and therefore port choice. In this thesis, the model is further developed to fit the reality of container liner shipping by minimising expected cost rather than expected travel time. The objective is now to assign container flows to routes to minimize the sailing costs and expected dwell costs at the origin port and intermediate transhipment ports. The constraints included are extended to include the maximum number of containers each route can carry. Finally, the capabilities of the cost-based container assignment model are explored through a case study of the Europe-Far East trade lane. A range of strategy and policy options, such as a shipping line planning a new route or modifying an existing route and a port authority considering expansion, are simulated. A possible approach to model validation through independent data is proposed. Recommendations for future research are provided at the end of the thesis. Many aspects are covered in the thesis; an origin-destination matrix estimation, automated virtual (task) network construction from routes and schedules, improvements to the probability distribution used for ship arrivals, a validation procedure, and model extension from port-to-port movements to door-to-door container movements