Information on Resource Utilisation for Operational Planning in Port Hinterland Transport

To meet increased freight flows through maritime ports, a high level of resource utilisation in hinterland transport is of crucial importance. However, various perspectives on resource utilisation create issues with use of information for operational decisions in port hinterland. The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of information related to resource utilisation for operational planning in port hinterland freight transport to facilitate its improvement. The study is case-based, and the data is collected through semi-structured interviews, visual observations, and company documents. The findings are analysed with a framework built from literature emphasising different resource utilisation perspectives and the use of information in road freight transport chain decisions. The findings show that the use of information on resource utilisation in operational freight transport decisions in the port hinterland transport system is limited and lacks a complete system overview. Instead of the information on measured parameters, different types of estimates of efficiency parameters (including resource utilisation) are commonly used for operational planning decisions. The information about the measured indicators has to be combined with other information to obtain an efficient level of resource utilisation; otherwise, it could generate incorrect assumptions regarding utilisation. The paper contributes to the topic of operational freight transport planning by describing the use of information on resource utilisation

Container Ports Post-Privatisation – Analysis of the Roles of the Public and Private Sectors at Port Botany, Sydney

The evidence base evaluating post-privatised commercial ports is virtually non-existent, especially with respect to sustainability and environmental performance. Despite acknowledged methodological limitations, a case study approach is adopted using Port Botany, Australia, as an example of a “privatised” port. In the post-privatisation period from 2013, we examine the respective roles of the public and private sectors in terms of legislation, policies and practice. How has NSW Ports responded to challenges of sustainability and environmental regulation within the port’s jurisdiction? to what extent have governments continued to be involved in planning and investment in the logistics chain to support the import and export of containers? and what are the relative costs to the private sector and the government to achieve more efficiency? The methodology involves material retrieved from websites, government and company reports, and discussions with key informants to verify the factual robustness of our findings. The findings show that the pre-privatisation environmental and regulatory framework has been effective, and that NSW Ports have been part of an Australian-wide ports initiative to implement best practice on climate change, and on economic, social and environmental sustainability countering claims in the literature that privatised ports put shareholder’s profits before the “greening” of ports. Despite Port Botany being privatised, Governments continue to enhance the efficiency of the logistical supply chain through policies and investment in transport access to the port via inland intermodal terminals

Outcome-Driven Supply Chain Perspective on Dry Ports

The hinterland leg of maritime containerized transport as a part of supply chain has been increasingly pressured by larger volumes, as well as by a need to fulfill sustainability requirements that are expressed by social opinion and formal regulations. There is a potential to relieve this pressure through integration of a dry port, as a seaport’s inland interface, in the supply chain. Therefore, this paper aims to explain how a supply chain can benefit or enhance its outcomes of cost, responsiveness, security, environmental performance, resilience, and innovation, by the integration of a dry port. The data for this case study is collected through interviews and site visits from the privately owned Skaraborg dry port, Sweden; and the study is limited to the actors of the transport system involved in the development and operations of the dry port integrated setup. The results show that the six supply chain outcomes (cost, responsiveness, security, environmental performance, resilience, and innovation) are perceived by the actors as being desirable, and can be enhanced by the integration of a dry port in the supply chains. In particular, the enhancement of the supply chain outcomes can be achieved due to intermodality and reliability of rail transportation and customization of services associated with the dry port integrated setup, and by increasing the capacity of transportation system

Dry ports: research outcomes, trends, and future implications

The concept of dry ports has gained significant interest among practitioners and researchers in the last decade. Consequently, publications on this topic have followed this development, and today there are more than 100 papers available in the Scopus and Science Direct databases, compared with only two papers in 2007. The purpose of this paper is to summarize current scientific knowledge on the phenomenon and to identify research outcomes, trends, and future research implications by conducting a systematic literature review (SLR). SLR is an explicit and reproducible method that ensures the reliability and traceability of the results. The selection of relevant papers was performed independently by each author using Rayyan QCRI software; the coding and analysis were conducted with the help of NVivo qualitative data analysis software. Findings show that the research area is largely represented by qualitative cases and optimization studies covering various aspects of dry ports. Dry port examples around the world differ based on location, functions, services, ownership, and maturity level. Although the research area is young and discrete, five main thematic areas are identified: debate on the concept, environmental impact, economic impact, performance impact, and dry ports from a network perspective

Exploring seaport - dry ports dyadic integration to meet the increase in container vessels size

This paper explores the implications of vessel enlargement on seaport\ua0competitiveness and investigates the dyadic integration between seaports and dry ports to address drastic vessel size acceleration in the Malaysian seaport system. Therefore, this paper aims to reveal the seaport/dry port dyadic relationship to improve seaport competitiveness in light of the increase in vessel size in the arena of global trade. To achieve this aim, mixed methods were applied by conducting qualitative and quantitative approaches concurrently. The outcome of this paper indicates that vessel enlargement has caused several problems in seaports including reduction in operational efficiency, congestion, limited capacity and infrastructure support, outdated policies for existing seaport development, urgent needs for additional investment in spatial development, as well as requirements for new structure in manpower training. Furthermore, the integration of dry ports in the seaport system to deal with vessel size enlargement is expected to improve seaport accessibility through improved infrastructure and service quality as well as increased capacity and efficiency

Dry Port Terminal Location Selection by Applying the Hybrid Grey MCDM Model

Globalization and decentralization of production generate the intensive growth of goods and transport flows, mostly performed by the maritime transport. Ports, as the main nodes in the global logistics networks, are becoming congested, space for their expansion limited, and traffic in their hinterland congested. As a solution to these and many other hinterland-transport-related problems stands out the development of dry port (DP) terminals. Selection of their location is one of the most important strategic decisions on which depends their competitiveness in the market and the functionality of the logistics network. Accordingly, the evaluation and selection of locations for the development of the DP in accordance with the requirements of various stakeholders is performed in this paper, as a prerequisite for the establishment of an ecological, economic, and socially sustainable logistics network in the observed area. To solve this problem, a new hybrid model of multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) that combines Delphi, AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process), and CODAS (Combinative Distance-based Assessment) methods in a grey environment is developed. The main contributions of this paper are the defined model, the problem-solving approach based on finding a compromise solution, simultaneous consideration of the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of the DP concept and its implementation in the regional international markets. The applicability of the approach and the defined MCDM model is demonstrated by solving a real-life case study of ranking the potential DP locations in the Western Balkans region. Based on the obtained results, it is concluded that in the current market conditions, it would be most realistic to open three DP terminals, in Zagreb, Ljubljana, and Belgrad

Modelling Dry Port Systems in the Framework of Inland Waterway Container Terminals

Overcoming the global sustainability challenges of logistics requires applying solutions that minimize the negative effects of logistics activities. The most efficient way of doing so is through intermodal transportation (IT). Current IT systems rely mostly on road, rail, and sea transport, not inland waterway transport. Developing dry port (DP) terminals has been proven as a sustainable means of promoting and utilizing IT in the hinterland of seaport container terminals. Conventional DP systems consolidate container flows from/to seaports and integrate road and rail transportation modes in the hinterland which improves the sustainability of the whole logistics system. In this article, to extend literature on the sustainable development of different categories of IT terminals, especially DPs, and their varying roles, we examine the possibility of developing DP terminals within the framework of inland waterway container terminals (IWCTs). Establishing combined road–rail–inland waterway transport for observed container flows is expected to make the IT systems sustainable. As such, this article is the first to address the modelling of such DP systems. After mathematically formulating the problem of modelling DP systems, which entailed determining the number and location of DP terminals for IWCTs, their capacity, and their allocation of container flows, we solved the problem with a hybrid metaheuristic model based on the Bee Colony Optimisation (BCO) algorithm and the measurement of alternatives and ranking according to compromise solution (i.e., MARCOS) multi-criteria decision-making method. The results from our case study of the Danube region suggest that planning and developing DP terminals in the framework of IWCTs can indeed be sustainable, as well as contribute to the development of logistics networks, the regionalisation of river ports, and the geographic expansion of their hinterlands. Thus, the main contributions of this article are in proposing a novel DP concept variant, mathematically formulating the problems of its modelling, and developing an encompassing hybrid metaheuristic approach for treating the complex nature of the problem adequately

The Selection of Intermodal Transport System Scenarios in the Function of Southeastern Europe Regional Development

The development of intermodal transportation (IT) systems is of vital importance for the sustainability of logistics activities. The existing research point at individual directions of action for system improvement and increase of IT participation in overall transportation, thus reducing negative impacts of logistics on sustainability. However, there is a lack of research defining complex scenarios that unite existing ideas and concepts of IT system development and improvement. Accordingly, this article deals with the definition and selection of the most appropriate IT development scenario for the region of Southeastern Europe. Six different potential scenarios that differ in the network configuration, the required level of logistics infrastructure development, the role of different IT terminal categories, the involvement of different transportation modes, and goods flows’ transformation degree, are defined. The scenarios are analyzed according to four stakeholder groups and twelve defined criteria. A novel hybrid multi-criteria decision-making model, based on fuzzy Delphi, fuzzy Factor Relationship (FARE), and fuzzy Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking according to Compromise Solution (MARCOS) methods, is developed for solving the problem. The definition and analysis of the problem, the way of establishing the scenarios, as well as the development of a novel hybrid model are the main contributions of this article. A significant contribution is also the consideration of the Dry Port (DP) concept for the first time in the context of river ports. The results indicate that the scenario referring to the development of the IT core network with the Danube DP terminals is potentially the most appropriate scenario for the Southeastern Europe IT system

Swedish shippers’ strategies for coping with slow-steaming in deep sea container shipping

When container shipping lines experience over-capacity and high fuel costs, they typically respond by decreasing sailing speeds and, consequently, increasing transport time. Most of the literature on this phenomenon, often referred to as slow-steaming, takes the perspective of the shipping lines addressing technical, operational and financial effects, or a society perspective focusing on lower emissions and energy use. Few studies investigate the effects on the demand side of the market for container liner shipping. Hence, the aim of this study is to elaborate on the logistics consequences of slow-steaming, particularly the strategies that Swedish shippers purchasing deep sea container transport services employ to mitigate the effects of slow-steaming. Workshops and semi-structured interviews revealed that shippers felt they had little or no impact on sailing schedules and were more or less subject to container shipping lines’ decisions. The effects of slow-steaming were obviously most severe for firms with complex supply chains, where intermediate products are sent back and forth between production stages on different continents. The shippers developed a set of strategies to cope with the low punctuality of containerised shipping, and these were categorised in the domains of transfer-the-problem, transport, sourcing and distribution, logistics and manufacturing, and product design. All firms applied changes in the transport domain, although the lack of service segmentation limited the effects of the strategy. Most measures were applied by two firms, whereas only one firm changed the product design

Applicability of Industry 4.0 Technologies in the Reverse Logistics: A Circular Economy Approach Based on COmprehensive Distance Based RAnking (COBRA) Method

The logistics sector plays one of the most important roles in the supply chain with the aim of providing a fast, flexible, safe, economical, efficient, and environmentally acceptable performance of freight transport flows. In addition, the popularization of the concept of a circular economy (CE) used to retain goods, components, and materials at their highest usability and value at all times, illustrates the importance of the adequate performance of reverse logistics (RL) processes. However, traditional RL is unable to cope with the requirements of modern supply chains and requires the application of Industry 4.0 technologies, which would make it more efficient. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the applicability of various Industry 4.0 technologies in the RL sector in order to point out the most applicable ones. To solve the defined problem, a novel multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) model was defined by combining the best-worst method (BWM) to obtain the criteria weights, and the newly developed comprehensive distance-based ranking (COBRA) method to rank the technologies. Another aim of the study was to validate the newly established method. The results indicated that the most applicable technologies were the Internet of Things, cloud computing, and electronic-mobile marketplaces. These technologies will have a significant impact on the development of RL and the establishment of CE systems, thus bringing about all the related positive effects