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

Managing optimum workload through terminal appointment system (TAS) : Case of Jakarta International Container Terminal

The Dissertation is a study of optimizing terminal through Terminal Appointment System (TAS), comparing the impact of unscheduled truck arrival with regulated truck arrival to the optimization process. A brief look is taken at present growth in container business. The rapid growth of world container trade, especially in Asia brings economic potentials for the countries and also challenges for container terminals. Capacity limitation in accommodating the trade growth forces the terminal to optimize their existing equipment and facilities. The evaluation of the existing performance of each component of the terminal operation, covering quay, yard and gate operation, is a starting point to identify the crucial problem in the optimization process. Many terminals implement Terminal Appointment System (TAS) to optimize their operation. This dissertation discuss the benefit and the impact of TAS implementation to the container terminal operation. The concluding chapter examines the impact of TAS solution in optimizing terminal operation. Some recommendations are made concerning the implementation of TAS

Optimization for a multi-constraint truck appointment system considering morning and evening peak congestion

Gate and yard congestion is a typical type of container port congestion, which prevents trucks from traveling freely and has become the bottleneck that constrains the port productivity. In addition, urban traffic increases the uncertainty of the truck arrival time and additional congestion costs. More and more container terminals are adopting a truck appointment system (TAS), which tries to manage the truck arrivals evenly all day long. Extending the existing research, this work considers morning and evening peak congestion and proposes a novel approach for multi-constraint TAS intended to serve both truck companies and container terminals. A Mixed Integer Nonlinear Programming (MINLP) based multi-constraint TAS model is formulated, which explicitly considers the appointment change cost, queuing cost, and morning and evening peak congestion cost. The aim of the proposed multi-constraint TAS model is to minimize the overall operation cost. The Lingo commercial software is used to solve the exact solutions for small and medium scale problems, and a hybrid genetic algorithm and simulated annealing (HGA-SA) is proposed to obtain the solutions for large-scale problems. Experimental results indicate that the proposed TAS can not only better serve truck companies and container terminals but also more effectively reduce their overall operation cost compared with the traditional TASs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Analysis of marine container terminal gate congestion, truck waiting cost, and system optimization

As world container volume continues to grow and the introduction of 12,000 TEUs plus containerships into major trade routes, the port industry is under pressure to deal with the ever increasing freight volume. Gate congestion at marine container terminal is considered a major issue facing truckers who come to the terminal for container pickup and delivery. Harbor truckers operate in a very competitive environment; they are paid by trip, not by the hours they drive. Gate congestion is not only detrimental to their economic well-being, but also causes environmental pollution. This thesis applies a multi-server queuing model to analyze marine terminal gate congestion and quantify truck waiting cost. In addition, an optimization model is developed to minimize gate system cost. Extensive data collection includes field observations and online camera observation and terminal day-to-day operation records. Comprehensive data analysis provides a solid foundation to support the development of the optimization model. The queuing analysis indicates that there is a substantial truck waiting cost incurred during peak season. Three optimization alternatives are explored. The results prove that optimization by appointment is the most effective way to reduce gate congestion and improve system efficiency. Lastly, it is the recommendation to use the combination of optimization by appointment and productivity improvement to mitigate terminal gate congestion and accommodate the ever growing container volume

Investigating congestion mitigation scenarios to reduce truck turn time at Port of Montreal using Discrete Event Simulation

Container ports are facing the growing problem of congestion due to the high volume of container trucks entering the terminal. Globalization, growth of trade and increasing consumer demand have further added to this complexity which has resulted in increased greenhouse gas emissions at the ports. Several measures are being undertaken by the ports to reduce this problem and improve port sustainability. Examples of these measures are implementing advanced technology equipment, implementing extended gate hours, changing the arrival patterns of trucks, and implementing variable gate lane policies. The objective of the thesis is to develop a discrete event simulation (DES) model to investigate the congestion mitigation scenarios to improve terminal productivity and reduce truck turn times at the Port of Montreal. A case study with the Montreal Port Authority is conducted. The results of our simulation study yield upgrade of technology at the terminals as the best solution followed by managing the arrival patterns, changing gate lanes and extended gating hours. The proposed work is novel and one of the very few to be conducted in the context of Port of Montreal. The generated results can be used by decision makers at Port of Montreal in developing strategies to mitigate congestion and reduce truck turn times at terminals

The Influence of Terminal Booking System (TBS), Yard Operation Plan (YOP), Turn Round Time (TRT) on Operational Effectiveness PT Pelindo Terimnal Peti Kemas Semarang

PT Pelindo Terminal Peti Kemas Semarang (TPKS) is a subholding of PT Pelindo that focuses on export and import container services. TPKS is one of the pioneers of the smart port concept in Indonesia, one of which is by implementing the Terminal Booking System (TBS) and Yard Plan to reduce Turn Round Time (TRT). However, in practice there are still many discrepancies between booking and gate-in hours, which have an impact on operational activities. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of the Terminal Booking System, Yard Operation Plan, Turn Round Time both partially and simultaneously and to see the factors that most influence the operational effectiveness of TPKS. This study used a quantitative method of explanatory format with a population of planning, control and operational management divisions using total sampling. The results of this study indicate that there is a positive and significant influence between the Terminal Booking System, Yard Operation Plan, Turn Round Time both partially and simultaneously on the operational effectiveness of TPKS. Meanwhile, the most influential factor is the Turn Round Time variable. The conclusion is that there is a positive and significant influence between TBS, YOP, and TRT either partially or simultaneously on the operational effectiveness of TPKS. The researcher's suggestion for PT Pelindo TPKS is to be able to optimize loading and unloading activities and receiving delivery in domestic CY (Container Yard)