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

River-Sea Freight Transport in Major Logistic Gateways: A Performance Evaluation of The United Kingdom And Continental Europe’s Inland Waterways

Globalisation and commercialisation have greatly expanded the growth, complexity, and competitiveness of logistic chains. Due to this growth, the high demand for intermodal transport systems has led to the need for continued and integrated transport planning to enhance transport reliability and efficiency. The ever-increasing acknowledgement of the external outcomes of transport has necessitated the development of a more sustainable transport mode. Inland Waterway Transport (IWT) has reinforced its reliance on maritime access even more strongly than in the past. According to the rhythms of increasing pressure from the globalisation market flow, European seaports with suitable inland waterway network connectivity form an interface. As a direct result, the IWT players have become more integrated into modern logistics systems due to increased freight volume and the integration of supply chains. The advancements are compelling the IWT industry to adapt and redefine its operations and strategic positionings. Incorporating waterways into the freight transportation network has led to the development of increasingly complex organisational structures that leverage cost, capacity, and regularity advantages. The expanding supply chain and the increasing need for efficiency and reliability require enhanced performance and assessment measures. Therefore, the study aims to develop a system model that shows how all pertinent aspects and factors influencing performance perception in IWT can be identified and modelled. This study undertakes empirical studies in the IWT sector of the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, and the UK in order to accomplish the research objectives. The study design is segmented into three sections. First, various IWT performance factors were identified through a systematic literature review. Next, the identified performance factors are validated through a series of empirical studies (experts were consulted using advanced questionnaires and semi-structured interviews). Finally, the performance factors are prioritised using a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process. The performance level of the case study countries was benchmarked using the technique for order performance by similarity to the ideal solution method based on the critical success factor. Their relative ranking has been determined according to the benchmark. This study categorises and verifies performance criteria into eight categories and forty-three subcategories. The novel eight categories are mobility and reliability, efficiency and profitability, infrastructure conditions, environmental impact and decarbonisation, safety and security, efficiency and profitability, innovative transport technology, and policy formulation and implementation. The capacity of IWT to provide efficient and reliable transportation services is crucial for the seamless operations of the supply chain. The findings indicate that performance associated with mobility and reliability has the highest priority and is of the utmost importance, followed by infrastructure condition, which, to the competitiveness of IWT, largely depends significantly on the quality of waterway infrastructure as missing links and bottlenecks limits the effectiveness of the transportation network. Finally, the performance approaches were ranked. The Netherlands (Rotterdam gateway) has the highest performance in terms of freight transportation via waterways, followed by Germany (Hamburg gateway), Belgium (Antwerp gateway) came third, next was France (Seine gateway), and the least among these gateways was the UK (Thames/Liverpool/Manchester) with a distance rating among the case studies. Statistics revealed that while the four European case study countries were high, the corresponding value for the UK regional gateways remained very low. The margin by which the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and France lead the UK shows how these countries and their strategic positioning have adapted inland shipping operations, aligning with the demands and dynamics of the global market. This study offers a more effective, robust, and efficient way to identify performance factors and enhance the efficiency of IWT operations. The study is the first to systematically identify, evaluate, categorise, and provide a detailed analysis of all pertinent performance measures in the field of IWT. Policymakers and industry practitioners can utilise the research findings to identify essential performance factors for enhancing decision-making and advancing progress. These performance index metrics can serve as new methods and tools, allowing stakeholders to measure the performance of their IWT

Audit Template for Inland Port Sustainability

This report serves as an assessment of port sustainability and its potential applications for the inland river ports of Kentucky and the surrounding region. The report discusses and defines sustainability, both generally as it relates to business and industry and specifically as it relates to the port industry. Given the unique nature of the inland port industry, the report reviews lessons learned from 11 port site visits conducted by Kentucky Transportation Center in 2012, primarily at major U.S. coastal ports but also representative inland ports. KTC’s analysis identifies the sustainability challenges facing various domestic and international ports, and what policy and operating initiatives are being undertaken to meet these challenges. This report then discusses KTC’s progress in tailoring the sustainability process identified during these visits to the inland port industry. Field visits to 13 public ports along the Ohio River were conducted in order to develop a sustainability self‐assessment tool, which took the lessons learned at coastal ports and large‐scale inland ports and applied them to the inland ports of Kentucky and the surrounding region. From these visits and the associated research, an audit template has been developed that allows inland port operators to assess and improve sustainability levels. The wealth of information compiled in this report, along with the associated appendices, will prove invaluable to the inland port industry. The research relayed to the industry has already proven to be a boon to the ports that participated in the project. The preliminary results indicate that ports along the region’s inland waterways would have little difficulty improving their sustainability profiles at low expense, so long as they follow the advice laid out by this report and the audit template

FREIGHT MODE CHOICE ANALYSIS: THE CASE OF ROAD AND RAIL TRANSPORTATION IN MYANMAR

Freight transport is considered as essential for being a major industry in itself as well as an integral part of every sector of the economy. Considering its critical role in economy, it is essential to understand the nature of freight transport systems and how the goods are distributed and processed depending on industrial conditions. Understanding mode choice is at the heart of freight transportation planning. Irrespective of this, freight mode choice and freight transport systems has been untouched and ignored in Myanmar. With the projected growing economic activities and reforms, it is highly essential to study mode choice behaviour. Literature review also highlights that mode choice are different from one context to another. Noting this, transport geography of Myanmar is first reviewed. After that, the general characteristics of freight users are examined focusing on their attitudes and satisfaction towards the current road and rail system. Then mode choice behaviour of road and rail transport are analysed estimating the parameters for the attributes utilizing binary logit models for certain commodities based on the Stated Preference Survey. Elasticities are also derived from the successful estimated disaggregate models to understand the sensitivity of the changes in those attributes. Then the policy analysis in Myanmar context is conducted. Finally, contributions and future directions of this thesis are presentedCONTENTS LIST OF TABLES iii LIST OF FIGURES v CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Background and Motivation for the Research 1 1.2 Objectives 3 1.3 Methodology 4 1.4 Content 5 CHAPTER 2: FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION IN MYANMAR 7 2.1 Introduction 7 2.2 Transport Geography of Myanmar 7 2.2.1. Transport Networks 7 2.3 The Supply of Freight Transport 10 2.3.1. Road Transport 10 2.3.2. Rail Transport 19 2.4 The Demand for Freight Transport 21 2.4.1. Traffic trend 21 2.4.2. Freight Composition and Distribution 22 2.4.3. Commodity Transported in Road and Rail 26 2.5 Conclusion 28 CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEW 30 3.1 Introduction 30 3.2 Modeling Freight Transport Demand 30 3.2.1. Aggregate and Disaggregate Models 31 3.2.2. Revealed and Stated Preference 32 3.3 Literature Review of Elements Affecting Mode Choice 34 3.4 Literature on mode choice using revealed and stated preference (SP) 37 3.5 Conclusion 40 CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH STRATEGY AND METHODS 43 4.1 Introduction 43 4.2 Approach to the Study 43 4.3 Methodology 46 4.3.1. Discrete Choice Method 46 4.3.2. Random Utility Model (Logit Model) 47 4.3.3. Designing Stated Choice Experiments 49 CHAPTER 5: FREIGHT TRANSPORT USAGE AND TRANSPORT USERS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS THE NATURE OF TRANSPORT CHARACTERISTICS IN MYANMAR 59 5.1 Introduction 59 5.2 Sample and Method 59 5.2.1. Questionnaire Design 59 5.3 Research Findings 60 5.4 Transport usage 64 5.4.1. Attitudes towards Transport Modes 67 5.5 Conclusion 72 CHAPTER 6: MODELING MODAL CHOICE USING STATED CHOICE 73 6.1 Introduction 73 6.2 Estimation and Results 73 6.2.1. Development of the questionnaire, presenting and data collection 73 6.3 Policy Analysis 86 6.3.1. Policy Development in Myanmar Context 86 6.3.2. Sensitivity Analysis 91 6.4 Summary and Implications 94 CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 98 7.1 Introduction 98 7.2 Contributions of the Research 98 7.2.1. Transport Geography of Myanmar 98 7.2.2. Literature and Methodological Review 98 7.2.3. Freight Transport Usage and Perceptions towards Transport Modes in Myanmar 99 7.2.4. Stated Preference Modelling and Analysis Results 100 7.2.5. Directions for Further Studies 101 APPENDIX 1…. 103 BIBLIOGRAPHY 10

Analysis of long-term freight transport, logistics and related CO2 trends on a business-as-usual basis

Freight transport is the life-blood of today’s economy. Raw materials, components and finished products flow in vast quantities through complex supply chain systems to satisfy the demands of the ultimate customers. Although vital to ensure economic prosperity, freight transport also poses a large burden on the environment and society. Road remains a dominant mode of freight transport in the UK, with 65% of the total tonne-kms moved and 82% of tonnes lifted in 2008. Most of the externalities associated with road freight transport have already been subject to legal environmental controls. CO2 emissions are the only externality that still remains unregulated. In order to evaluate the effects of potential regulations or other policy options, decision makers need a reliable forecast of the future course of the road freight transport- related CO2 emissions in the absence of such new initiatives and interventions. Most currently available forecasts relate to road transport as a whole and focus on the passenger vehicle activity. Forecasts of road freight volumes and related externalities are typically linked to trends in economic activity, ignoring changes in the nature of logistics and supply chain systems. Hence, the aim of this thesis is to produce a forecast of road freight transport – related CO2 emissions up to 2020 on a business-as-usual (BAU) basis by incorporating the projections on future trends in a number of logistics and road freight transport variables and the driving forces behind them. The theoretical foundations of the logistics and supply chain management discipline continuously evolve, allowing researchers to view real-world problems from an array of philosophical perspectives, leading to scientific advancement and enrichment of the body of knowledge. This thesis is rooted in the critical realist paradigm and employs methodological triangulation involving focus group research, a Delphi questionnaire survey and spreadsheet modelling to produce a reliable BAU forecast of future CO2 emissions from road freight transport. In addition to the forecast of future CO2 emissions from Heavy Goods Vehicles, this research also elicits forecasts of changes in key logistics and freight transport variables such as handling factor, average length of haul, modal split, empty running, lading factor and fuel efficiency up to 2020. The main structural, commercial, operational, functional, external and product-related factors behind future trends in these variables are also investigated. The BAU scenario is assessed in the light of the UK greenhouse gas reduction target and additional scenarios offering CO2 savings greater than that predicted by the BAU case modelled. The thesis concludes with a review of potential policy measures that could help to reduce the future CO2 emissions from road freight transport

Establishing a generic systems model of port clusters and their associated port logistics process

Ports are playing an ever pivotal role in the development and operation of industrial supply chains. Port management has historically been reactive to legislative and customer pressures. Such a reactive approach has resulted in ad hoc infrastructure development including physical facilities and information technology. Ports may thus be viewed as large scale complex systems where there is a need to define a more holistic perspective of their design and operations. Recent developments in the construct of port clusters and maritime clusters have led to increased complexity. The advantage in these developments is that greater integration between the port and associated services and users in the supply chain in port should be realised. However, there is a need to apply appropriate industrial engineering tools and techniques in order to visualise such clusters as whole systems without the need for excessively complex models. Such visualisations will help in developing our understanding of the interrelationships between the various parts and aid in the development of structured design methods. The thesis presents a structured analysis and design technique (SADT) in order to visualise a port cluster as a system of systems wherein hierarchy lies. This research identifies a port cluster and within that a port logistics process. SADT has been chosen as there are readily available software tools to aid in the visualisation and it provides a robust structured method by which to model hierarchical systems. This study applies SADT to the port cluster system that has distributed around the Port of Busan in Korea but has not been organised systematically. This dissertation shows that SADT does provide an opportunity to define and analyse the cluster in terms of the port logistics process, port activities and actors. In conjunction with the calculation of the industrial productivity of the cluster, it will be able to distinguish who could be the leading industry or leading company in the cluster. Finally, the results of the industrial productivity analysis also will be express using SADT diagram, so that it could provide the clear picture which industry/business should be the leader in each port logistics process

Exploring green and logistics service quality of Thai logistics service providers

The emergence of environmental or green issues in global supply chains has made it an essential practice to measure the performance of organisations of not only from their financial and management perspectives but also their environmental performance, particularly logistics service providers (LSPs) as service providers. There has been little work done during last two decades linking the three topics of green service quality (GSQ), logistics service quality (LSQ), and the Thai government’s logistics performance index (TLPI) for the logistics sector. The objective of this thesis was to investigate issues pertaining to GSQ and LSQ, and their impact on the TLPI for logistics providers in Thailand.Based on an extensive literature review, three research questions were proposed for this thesis to address gaps in the body of knowledge. GSQ is a new area of theory development and few research studies have focussed on the on the integration of both green and logistics service quality. The study used a rigorous three-phase methodological framework originally developed for the marketing discipline for item and scale development and applied more recently to logistics research.A mixed method approach used semi-structured interviews in Phase One, in conjunction with the literature, to generate and develop variables of GSQ and LSQ. These variables were tested in a Phase Two empirical study of Thai LSPs and their customers using a questionnaire survey. Finally, in Phase Three structured interviews were conducted to verify and validate the overall results.The findings indicate that LSQ has a positive and significant effect on TLPI, and that effect is more pronounced when GSQ measures are included. Such measures indirectly affect TLPI through LSQ. The findings also propose a final set of twenty-eight GSQ and LSQ variables of importance to LSP performance as perceived by Thai LSPs and their customers, and are related generally to green safety, regulations and collaboration; time and services; order service quality; and order procedures competencies. In light of this study, Thai LSPs should consider introducing GSQ as part of their business and the Thai government might include GSQ measures as part of its TLPI

Barriers to Technology Adoption Among Maritime Industry Stakeholders in Nigeria

A literature gap exists regarding why Nigerian maritime industry stakeholders remain slow to accept new technologies to improve the maritime sector’s capacity to drive national sustainable development. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore the barriers to technology acceptance among Nigerian maritime industry stakeholders. A single case study with an embedded unit design was used to address the literature gap, and qualitative data from 12 semi-structured interviews, reflective field notes, and archival data were collected to provide answers to the central research question. This study was framed by Yang’s concept of maritime shipping digitization and Wiafe et al.’s concept of technology acceptance in the maritime industry in developing countries. Thematic analysis of data from the interviews revealed 16 themes encased in the following five coding categories: (a) technology adoption standards as compared to global industry standards, (b) barriers to technology adoption and maritime digitization, (c) technology acceptance factors influencing maritime industry stakeholders, (d) resources needed for new technology adoption to meet global industry standards, and (e) how Nigeria’s maritime sector can drive national sustainable development. The results of this study have the potential to promote positive social change by offering recommendations on how the Nigerian maritime sector may contribute to national sustainable development through reforms and strategic responses related to the adoption and use of updated technologies

공컨테이너관리 기법을 활용한 효율적인 컨테이너 공급망

학위논문 (박사) -- 서울대학교 대학원 : 공과대학 산업공학과, 2021. 2. 문일경.Due to a remarkable surge in global trade volumes led by maritime transportation, shipping companies should make a great effort in managing their container flows especially in case of carrier-owned containers. To do so, they comprehensively implement empty container management strategies and accelerate the flows in a cost- and time-efficient manner to minimize total relevant costs while serving the maximal level of customers demands. However, many critical issues in container flows universally exist due to high uncertainty in reality and hinder the establishment of an efficient container supply chain. In this dissertation, we fully discuss such issues and provide mathematical models along with specific solution procedures. Three types of container supply chain are presented in the following: (i) a two-way four-echelon container supply chain; (ii) a laden and empty container supply chain under decentralized and centralized policies; (iii) a reliable container supply chain under disruption. These models explicitly deal with high risks embedded in a container supply chain and their computational experiments offer underlying managerial insights for the management in shipping companies. For (i), we study empty container management strategy in a two-way four-echelon container supply chain for bilateral trade between two countries. The strategy reduces high maritime transportation costs and long delivery times due to transshipment. The impact of direct shipping is investigated to determine the number of empty containers to be repositioned among selected ports, number of leased containers, and route selection to satisfy the demands for empty and laden containers for exporters and importers in two regions. A hybrid solution procedure based on accelerated particle swarm optimization and heuristic is presented, and corresponding results are compared. For (ii), we introduce the laden and empty container supply chain model based on three scenarios that differ with regard to tardiness in the return of empty containers and the decision process for the imposition of fees with the goal of determining optimal devanning times. The effectiveness of each type of policy - centralized versus decentralized - is determined through computational experiments that produce key performance measures including the on-time return ratio. Useful managerial insights on the implementation of these polices are derived from the results of sensitivity analyses and comparative studies. For (iii), we develop a reliability model based on container network flow while also taking into account expected transportation costs, including street-turn and empty container repositioning costs, in case of arc- and node-failures. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to analyze the impact of disruption on container supply chain networks, and a benchmark model was used to determine disruption costs. More importantly, some managerial insights on how to establish and maintain a reliable container network flow are also provided.해상 수송이 주도함으로써 전 세계 무역량이 급증하기 때문에 회사 소유 컨테이너는 컨테이너 흐름을 관리하는 데 많은 노력을 기울여야 한다. 이를 위해 공 컨테이너 관리 전략을 포괄적으로 구현하고 효율적인 수송 비용 및 시간 절감 방식으로 컨테이너 흐름을 원활히 하여 관련 총비용을 최소화하는 동시에 고객의 수요를 최대한 충족하게 된다. 그러나 현실에서는 높은 불확실성 때문에 컨테이너 흐름에 대한 많은 주요한 이슈가 보편적으로 존재하고 효율적인 컨테이너 공급망 구축을 방해한다. 본 논문에서는 이러한 이슈에 대해 전반적으로 논의하고 적절한 해법과 함께 수리 모형을 제공한다. 이를 위해 세 가지 유형의 컨테이너 공급망을 다룬다. 먼저 (i) 양방향 네 단계 컨테이너 공급망, (ii) 분권화 및 중앙 집중화 정책에 따른 적∙공 컨테이너 공급망; 그리고 (iii) disruption 상황 속에서 신뢰성을 고려하는 컨테이너 공급망이다. 본 논문에서 제시한 세 가지 모형은 컨테이너 공급망에 내재 된 높은 위험을 직접 다루며 계산 실험은 해운 회사의 경영진이나 관계자를 위해 주요한 관리 인사이트를 제공한다. (i)의 경우, 두 지역 간 양자 무역을 위한 양방향 네 단계 컨테이너 공급망에서 공 컨테이너 관리 전략을 연구한다. 이 전략은 환적으로 인한 높은 해상 운송 비용과 긴 배송 시간을 줄일 수 있다. 또한, 직항 수송의 영향을 조사하여 선택된 항구 중 재배치 할 공 컨테이너 수, 임대 컨테이너 수, 두 지역의 수출업자와 수입업자의 적∙공 컨테이너 대한 수요를 만족하기 위한 경로 선택을 결정하게 된다. APSO 및 휴리스틱을 기반으로 하는 하이브리드 해법을 제시하며 비교 실험을 하였다. (ii)의 경우 최적 devanning time 결정을 목표로 공 컨테이너의 반환 지연과 해당 수수료 부과 결정 프로세스와 관련하여 서로 다른 세 가지 시나리오를 기반으로 적∙공 컨테이너 공급망 모형을 제시한다. 각 유형의 정책적(분권화 및 중앙 집중화) 효과는 정시 반환율을 포함한 주요 성능 측정을 고려하는 계산 실험을 통해 결정된다. 이러한 정책 실행에 대한 유용한 관리 인사이트는 민감도 분석 및 비교 연구의 결과에서 도출한다. (iii)의 경우, 본 논문은 컨테이너 네트워크 흐름을 기반으로 하는 신뢰성 모형을 개발하는 동시에 아크 및 노드 failure가 있을 때 street-turn 및 공 컨테이너 재배치 비용을 포함한 기대 총 비용을 구한다. 중단이 컨테이너 공급망 네트워크에 미치는 영향을 분석하기 위해 민감도 분석을 수행했으며 disruption 비용을 결정하기 위해 벤치마크 모형을 활용한다. 더불어 신뢰성을 고려한 컨테이너 네트워크 흐름을 구축하고 신뢰성을 유지하는 방법에 대한 관리적 인사이트도 제공한다.Abstract i Contents ii List of Tables vi List of Figures viii 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Empty Container Repositioning Problem 1 1.2 Reliability Problem 3 1.3 Research Motivation and Contributions 4 1.4 Outline of the Dissertation 7 2. Two-Way Four-Echelon Container Supply Chain 8 2.1 Problem Description and Literature Review 8 2.2 Mathematical Model for the TFESC 15 2.2.1 Overview and Assumptions 15 2.2.2 Notation and Formulation 19 2.3 Solution Procedure for the TFESC 25 2.3.1 Pseudo-Function-based Optimization Problem 25 2.3.2 Objective Function Evaluation 28 2.3.3 Heuristics for Reducing the Number of Leased Containers 32 2.3.4 Accelerated Particle Swarm Optimization 34 2.4 Computational Experiments 37 2.4.1 Heuristic Performances 39 2.4.2 Senstivity Analysis of Varying Periods 42 2.4.3 Senstivity Analysis of Varying Number of Echelons 45 2.5 Summary 48 3. Laden and Empty Container Supply Chain under Decentralized and Centralized Policies 50 3.1 Problem Description and Literature Review 50 3.2 Scenario-based Model for the LESC-DC 57 3.3 Model Development for the LESC-DC 61 3.3.1 Centralized Policy 65 3.3.2 Decentralized Policies (Policies I and II) 67 3.4 Computational Experiments 70 3.4.1 Numerical Exmpale 70 3.4.2 Sensitivity Analysis of Varying Degree of Risk in Container Return 72 3.4.3 Sensitivity Analysis of Increasing L_0 74 3.4.4 Sensitivity Analysis of Increasing t_r 76 3.4.5 Sensitivity Analysis of Decreasing es and Increasing e_f 77 3.4.6 Sensitivity Analysis of Discounting 〖pn〗_{f1} and 〖pn〗_{f2} 78 3.4.7 Sensitivity Analysis of Different Container Fleet Sizes 79 3.5 Managerial Insights 81 3.6 Summary 83 4. Reliable Container Supply Chain under Disruption 84 4.1 Problem Description and Literature Review 84 4.2 Mathematical Model for the RCNF 90 4.3 Reliability Model under Disruption 95 4.3.1 Designing the Patterns of q and s 95 4.3.2 Objective Function for the RCNF Model 98 4.4 Computational Experiments 103 4.4.1 Sensitivity Analysis of Expected Failure Costs 106 4.4.2 Sensitivity Analysis of Different Network Structures 109 4.4.3 Sensitivity Analysis of Demand-Supply Variation 112 4.4.4 Managerial Insights 115 4.5 Summary 116 5. Conclusions and Future Research 117 Appendices 120 A Proof of Proposition 3.1 121 B Proof of Proposition 3.2 124 C Proof of Proposition 3.3 126 D Sensitivity Analyses for Results 129 E Data for Sensitivity Analyses 142 Bibliography 146 국문초록 157 감사의 글 160Docto