A Systematic Literature Review Looking at Digitizing Container Harbors

This article presents a systematic literature on the use of information technology within the field of maritime shipping. First, the review scope, the search terms, the data sources, the search process, the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the data extraction and analysis procedures are presented. The findings show that RFID is still reported to be in its infancy. Truck appointment system might only work in certain situations as truck drivers might not have a choice of when to pick up its container. There is no centralization of the operation. Creating a digital dashboard to display potential wait-time based on past days truck companies can better plan their day if they have the chance to do so. The benefits of such system are to offer real-time information to its users. Digitalization also allows for predictive analytics to take place this takes the process to another level.publishedVersio

Off-peak truck deliveries at container terminals: the 'Good Night' program in Israel

Purpose – Avoiding truck congestion and peaks in landside activity is one of the challenges to container terminal managers. The spreading of truck arrivals at terminals can be facilitated by widening the opening hours of terminals at the landside. Israel’s Ministry of Transport has instituted the “Good Night Program”, involving monetary incentives for importers and exporters who deliver containers to ports at night. Design/methodology/approach – This paper aims to quantitatively examine the market utility resulting from shifting traffic from daytime to nighttime, and analyzes customer considerations regarding nighttime transportation. Findings – The external utility found in the traffic-economics model is quite similar to the economic incentive given to customers. Therefore, a significant increase of the incentive is not feasible. Originality/value – Furthermore, it seems that an incentive method by itself is not effective enough, and does not motivate customers to act and find creative solutions to the obstacles they face. To achieve a considerable change in nighttime transport to Israeli ports, more effective methods should be examined

Technical, economic and energetic competitiveness of rail-road combined transport: evaluation of the effects of possible ITS applications on intermodal terminal.

L'abstract è presente nell'allegato / the abstract is in the attachmen

Strategies to increase port competitiveness

Improving the competitiveness of local businesses and their products within worldwide markets is a vital element for the long-term economic growth of a region. This paper presents a summary of ongoing research needs and outcomes formulated from a partnership between the University of Queensland and the Port of Brisbane Pty Ltd (PBPL), in order to facilitate international trade growth in Queensland and improve PBPL’s competitiveness. As part of this partnership with PBPL, we explore strategies to overcome inefficiencies in supply chain and infrastructure and discuss subsequent prospects for further investigation. The key goals of the partnership program for transport-related issues have been identified as: (i) providing a platform for freight actors trading through the port, in order to increase the performance of their logistics operations by adopting cooperative strategies; (ii) exploring modal shift opportunities to enhance the sustainability and the efficiency of the logistics operations of importers and exporters; (iii) facilitating improved inland supply chains for local export commodities through new trans-shipment points, back-loading opportunities, and logistics cost minimisation

Access management for road hauliers and rail operators in intermodal freight terminals

A pivotal element in the transport industry, intermodal freight transport, is rather complex due to the numerous transport modes and actors involved. Terminal operators in intermodal freight transport face major challenges to provide seamless flows of containers via their terminals. Seamless flows are achievable by bridging gaps between large-scale transport operators (e.g. shipping lines) and small-scale transport operators (e.g. road hauliers and rail operators). Effective access processes can not only bridge those gaps but also contribute to decreasing turnaround times for trucks and trains. By applying the access processes, small-scale transport operators can receive access to specific resources in terminals. An effective access process can be achieved when transport resources (e.g. trucks and truck drivers) can be managed together with terminal resources (e.g. straddle carriers and straddle carrier drivers). In this thesis, such management is termed access management, defined as managing the process by which actors access resources at terminals. Guided by that concept, the thesis seeks to increase the understanding of how access management for road hauliers and rail operators in intermodal freight terminals can contribute to decreasing turnaround times for trucks and trains.The thesis is a compilation of five papers reporting studies that involved literature reviews, interviews, focus groups, participant observations and time measurements. Whereas the literature reviews focused on the topics of access management and information exchange, the collected data were analysed by implementing several analytical frameworks developed for the thesis. The results of using those frameworks clarified how effective access to resources at intermodal freight terminals can be managed, especially by explaining four dynamics: (1) how different information services can contribute to decreasing turnaround times for trucks and trains, (2) how those services can affect activity performance and resource utilisation, (3) how the required and most relevant attributes of information can be exchanged in real time among actors involved and (4) how and when such attributes need to be automatically collected and exchanged. Following from those results, the chief finding is that terminal operators can effectively manage transport and terminal processes, as well as decrease turnaround for trucks and trains, by using access management services that allow exchanging information in real time. From the empirical findings of the studies conducted, six propositions are formulated and justified

Toward implementing a fully automated truck guidance system at a seaport: identifying the roles, costs and benefits of logistics stakeholders

The seaport-hinterland access infrastructures become more saturated leading to extra unpredictable costs for logistics operators. To keep their services competitive, infrastructure managers (such as port authorities) seek new approaches in managing and delivering information to their users. Starting from existing technological advancements and exploring the declared opportunities enabled by (near) future ones, a range of solutions (e.g. real-time information platforms, dynamic information boards or digital on-request notification solutions) can be pursued. This research investigates how an advanced truck guidance system (TGS) leverages on technology and leads to more efficient resource (infrastructure, equipment and labour) usage. The current paper merges two perspectives. The first conducts interviews with representatives of different logistics stakeholders to highlight their data needs. The second perspective is given by a review of information communication technology (ICT) innovative trends. These two perspectives provide an up-to-date overview of both needs (demand) and opportunities (supply) that challenge logistics stakeholders. This study proposes a TGS architecture that merges the two perspectives and identifies a stepwise approach to implement it. Therefore, the roles, costs and benefits brought to the logistics stakeholders are highlighted for each step. The key findings of this study show that road transport operators would benefit from operational savings and increased performance, while the other supply chain stakeholders can benefit from setting up a more reliable planning, better managing their infrastructure and developing added-value services for clients. To enable these benefits, the port administration could take the facilitator role and cover the TGS’s development costs

Sea Container Terminals

Due to a rapid growth in world trade and a huge increase in containerized goods, sea container terminals play a vital role in globe-spanning supply chains. Container terminals should be able to handle large ships, with large call sizes within the shortest time possible, and at competitive rates. In response, terminal operators, shipping liners, and port authorities are investing in new technologies to improve container handling infrastructure and operational efficiency. Container terminals face challenging research problems which have received much attention from the academic community. The focus of this paper is to highlight the recent developments in the container terminals, which can be categorized into three areas: (1) innovative container terminal technologies, (2) new OR directions and models for existing research areas, and (3) emerging areas in container terminal research. By choosing this focus, we complement existing reviews on container terminal operations

The one container drayage problem with soft time windows

Intermodal freight transport consists of using different modes of transport without changing the load unit. This results in a significant reduction in the time that goods spend at intermodal terminals, where transshipment takes place. Drayage refers to the transport of freight on trucks among intermodal terminals, depots, customers and suppliers. In spite of the fact that drayage only represents between 5 and 10 percent of total distance, it may amount up to more than 30 percent of the total costs. The aim of this work is to study drayage operations. First, an extensive literature review is undertaken. Since the intermodal transport chain can become more efficient by means of a proper organisation of the drayage movements, the optimization of the daily drayage problem has been identified as one of the main ways of reducing the drayage cost and improving intermodal operations. On this problem, the lack of a common benchmark has hindered reaching further conclusions from all the research carried out. Therefore, this paper proposes a common framework and presents a generalized formulation of the problem, which allows modeling most drayage policies, with the limitation of only considering one-container problems. Results show that flexible tasks in the repositioning of empty containers as well as soft time windows can reduce the operating costs and facilitate the management of drayage companies. This work may help consider adequate policies regarding drayage operations in intermodal terminals