Search Results (14)

The U-shaped automated container terminal (U-ACT) meets the requirements of sea-rail intermodal transportation with its unique layout. However, this layout also presents challenges, such as complex container transshipment planning and challenging equipment scheduling, which limit further improvements in overall efficiency. This paper focuses on the integrated scheduling of horizontal transportation and container-handling equipment for container transshipment at U-ACT. To minimize operation time and energy consumption while addressing path conflicts among container trucks, we designed a two-layer scheduling model to generate an optimal scheduling scheme for each automated device. Given the complexity of the problem, we developed a reinforcement learning-driven hyper-heuristic algorithm (RLHA) capable of efficiently searching for near-optimal solutions. Small-scale experiments demonstrate that our RLHA outperforms other algorithms, improving optimization results by 5.14% to 28.87% when the number of container operation tasks reaches 100. Finally, large-scale experiments were conducted to analyze key factors impacting sea-rail intermodal transport operations at U-ACT, providing a foundation for practical optimization. Full article

Numerous studies address the estimation of energy consumption at intermodal terminals, with a primary focus on existing facilities. However, a significant research gap lies in the lack of reliable methods and tools for the ex ante estimation of energy consumption in transshipment systems. Such tools are essential for assessing the energy demand and intensity of intermodal terminals during the design phase. This gap presents a challenge for intermodal terminal designers, power grid operators, and other stakeholders, particularly in an era of growing energy needs. The authors of this paper identified this issue in the context of a real business case while planning potential intermodal terminal locations along new railway lines. The need became apparent when power grid designers requested energy consumption forecasts for the proposed terminals, highlighting the necessity to formulate and mathematically solve this problem. To address this challenge, a three-stage model was developed based on a pre-designed intermodal terminal. Stage I focused on establishing the fundamental assumptions for intermodal terminal operations. Key parameters influencing energy intensity were identified, such as the size of the transshipment yard, the types of loading operations, the number of containers handled, and the selection of handling equipment. These parameters formed the foundation for further analysis and modeling. Stage II focused on determining the optimal number of machines required to handle a given throughput. This included determining the specific parameters of the equipment, such as speed, span, and efficiency coefficients, as well as ensuring compliance with installation constraints dictated by the terminal layout. Stage III focused on estimating the energy consumption of both individual handling cycles and the total consumption of all handling equipment installed at the terminal. This required obtaining detailed information about the operational parameters of the handling equipment, which directly influence energy consumption. Using these parameters and the equations outlined in Stage III, the energy consumption for a single loading cycle was calculated for each type of handling equipment. Based on the total number of loading operations and model constraints, the total energy consumption of the terminal was estimated for various workload scenarios. In this phase of the study, numerous test calculations were performed. The analysis of testing parameters and the specified terminal layout revealed that energy consumption per cycle varies by equipment type: rail-mounted gantry cranes consume between 5.23 and 8.62 kWh, rubber-tired gantry cranes consume between 3.86 and 7.5 kWh, and automated guided vehicles consume approximately 0.8 kWh per cycle. All handling equipment, based on the adopted assumptions, will consume between 2200 and 13,470 kWh per day. Based on the testing results, a methodology was developed to aid intermodal terminal designers in estimating energy consumption based on variations in input parameters. The results closely align with those reported in the global literature, demonstrating that the methodology proposed in this article provides an accurate approach for estimating energy consumption at intermodal terminals. This method is also suited for use in ex ante cost–benefit analysis. A sensitivity analysis revealed the key variables and parameters that have the greatest impact on unit energy consumption per handling cycle. These included the transshipment yard’s dimensions, the mass of the equipment and cargo, and the nominal specifications of machinery engines. This research is significant for present-day economies heavily reliant on electricity, particularly during the energy transition phase, where efficient management of energy resources and infrastructure is essential. In the case of Poland, where this analysis was conducted, the energy transition involves not only switching handling equipment from combustion to electric power but, more importantly, decarbonizing the energy system. This study is the first to provide a methodology fully based on the design parameters of a planned intermodal terminal, validated with empirical data, enabling the calculation of future energy consumption directly from terminal technical designs. It also fills a critical research gap by enabling ex ante comparisons of energy intensity across transport chains, an area previously constrained by the lack of reliable tools for estimating energy consumption within transshipment terminals. Full article

Intermodal transportation is the use of multiple modes of transportation, which can lead to greater sustainability by reducing environmental impact and traffic congestion and increasing the efficiency of supply chains. One of the preconditions for efficient intermodal transport is the efficient intermodal terminal (IT). ITs allow for the smooth and efficient handling of cargo, thus reducing the time, cost, and environmental impact of transportation. Adequate selection of subsystem technologies can significantly improve the efficiency and productivity of an IT, ultimately leading to cost savings for businesses and a more efficient and sustainable transportation system. Accordingly, this paper aims to establish a framework for the evaluation and selection of appropriate technologies for IT subsystems. To solve the defined problem, an innovative hybrid multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) model, which combines the fuzzy factor relationship (FFARE) and the fuzzy combinative distance-based assessment (FCODAS) methods, is developed in this paper. The FFARE method is used for obtaining criteria weights, while the FCODAS method is used for evaluation and a final ranking of the alternatives. The established framework and the model are tested on a real-life case study, evaluating and selecting the handling technology for a planned IT. The study defines 12 potential variants of handling equipment based on their techno-operational characteristics and evaluates them using 16 criteria. The results indicate that the best handling technology variant is the one that uses a rail-mounted gantry crane for trans-shipment and a reach stacker for horizontal transport and storage. The results also point to the conclusion that instead of choosing equipment for each process separately, it is important to think about the combination of different handling technologies that can work together to complete a series of handling cycle processes. The main contributions of this paper are the development of a new hybrid model and the establishment of a framework for the selection of appropriate IT subsystem technologies along with a set of unique criteria for their evaluation and selection. Full article

The transport system is one of the main bottlenecks of the world’s largest producer and exporter of soybeans, Brazil. Long-distance truck transportation of grains increases costs, food waste, and CO${}_2$ emissions. To handle these problems, the Brazilian government seeks to expand the transportation system through the national transport logistics plan (PNLT), promoting efficient operations. Collaborating on the environmental aspect, this paper proposes sustainable logistic infrastructure for soybean transportation. Investigating the largest grain-producing state in the world, Mato Grosso (Brazil), we show the optimal location for capacitated transshipment terminals untangling the relationship between logistics and sustainability. Besides handling cargo truck costs and CO${}_2$ emission, the optimization model considers cities, road distances, transshipment terminals existents, terminals capacities, implementing costs, and locations near waterways and railways. In five scenarios with different combinations of waterways and railways, we contrast the cost of installing terminals and the total road distance traveled under different weights for the environmental components. The results indicate that it is possible to simultaneously obtain the minimum cost of installing transshipment terminals and to reduce emissions by 20% in all analyzed scenarios. We conclude that obtaining strategic solutions at lower costs can be combined with proper environmental responsibility. As contributions, the results allow for advances in the area of sustainable logistics, encouraging the development of new research in Brazil involving the dimensions of sustainability. In addition, the study supports the government’s strategic decisions regarding ongoing discussions on expanding the intermodal soy transport network in the country. Full article

The multiple processes taking place on a daily basis at an intermodal container terminal are often considered individually, given the complexity of their joint consideration. Nevertheless, the integrated planning and scheduling of operations in an intermodal terminal, including the arrivals and departures of trains and vessels, is a very relevant topic for terminal managers, which can benefit from the application of Operations Research (OR) techniques to obtain near-optimal solutions without excessive computational cost. Applying the functional integration technique, we present here a mathematical model for this terminal planning process, and solve it using heuristic procedures, given its complexity and size. Details on the benchmark comparison of a genetic algorithm, a simulated annealing routine and a tabu search are provided for different problem instances. Full article

Terminals are key components of intermodal transport networks, as they are the facilities where freight is transferred between transport modes. The efficiency of such facilities crucially depends on their locations (and sizes), which are typically chosen considering two levels of analysis: local/urban and regional/country. Our focus in this presentation is the regional/country level. At this level, the problems involved in the locational (and sizing) decisions at stake are a particular variety of hub locations problems—a class of problems that has been widely studied through optimization approaches. However, they typically assume that decisions are made in a centralized management context: decision-makers not only choose the locations of intermodal terminals (or hubs), but also fully control their utilization (i.e., which terminal each user will patronize). This signifies that such approaches are not applicable when users–potentially, any companies that move freight–behave according to their own individual interests; that is, they are not applicable in a decentralized management context. In this presentation, we describe an ongoing study where (regional) intermodal terminal location problems are dealt with in this type of context considering terminals of different types and respective capacity and operation ranges. In particular, we present the complex optimization model we have developed to handle such problems, and the (sometimes counterintuitive) results it led to when applied to a case study inspired by the Portuguese reality. Full article

Freight movement has always been, and always will be an essential activity. Freight transport is one of the most challenging sectors to transition to net-zero carbon. Traffic assignment, mode allocation, network planning, hub location, train scheduling and terminal design problem-solving have previously been used to address cost and operation efficiencies. In this study, the interdisciplinary transition innovation, management and engineering (InTIME) methodology was used for the conceptualization, redesign and redevelopment of the existing freight systems to achieve a downshift in fossil energy consumption. The fourth step of the InTIME methodology is the conceptualization of a long-term future intermodal transport system that can serve the current freight task. The novelty of our approach stands in considering the full range of freight supply chain factors as a whole, using an optimization-simulation approach as if we were designing the low-carbon system of 2121. For the optimization, ArcGIS software was used to set up a multimodal network model. Route and mode selection were delivered through the optimization of energy use within the network. Complementarily, Anylogic software was used to build a GIS-based discrete event simulation model and set up different experiments to enhance the solution offered by the network analysis. The results outline the resources needed (i.e., number of railway tracks, train speed, size of railyards, number of cranes and forklifts at terminals) to serve the freight task. The results can be backcast to reveal the most efficient investments in the near term. In the case of New Zealand’s North Island, the implementation of strategic terminals, with corresponding handling resources and railyards, could deliver 47% emissions reduction from the sector by 2030, ahead of longer lead-time upgrades like electrification of the railway infrastructure. Full article

Despite the extensive transit network in Metro Manila, intermodal connections between public transportation services are still fragmented. In response, authorities proposed various multimodal transport terminals around the periphery of the metropolis. However, there is a need to understand how these proposed terminals will impact existing transportation infrastructure and services as well as the current travel demand. This paper proposes a method that quantifies the nearness of any subject to any metric of interest, or in this case, the location of the terminal based on its proximity to existing transit supply and demand at different points in the transport network. It involves a simple methodology that requires only the spatial distribution of relevant transport planning data (e.g., public transport services, public transport passenger activity). It was found that the spatial distribution of the transport terminals in the study area is more closely related to the transit supply. Using the same methodology, several potential locations in Metro Manila (e.g., central terminal, terminal along a major junction) were assessed to see whether these are viable sites for a multimodal terminal. One scenario configuration was found to be better integrated with where trips start and/or end, while another seemed to improve integration of the existing railways. Full article

This paper discusses a bi-objective programming of the port-hinterland freight transportation system based on intermodal transportation with the consideration of uncertain transportation demand for green concern. Economic and environmental aspects are integrated in order to obtain green flow distribution solutions for the proposed port-hinterland network. A distributionally robust chance constraint optimization model is then established for the uncertainty of transportation demand, in which the chance constraint is described such that transportation demand is satisfied under the worst-case distribution based on the partial information of the mean and variance. The trade-offs among different objectives and the uncertainty theory applied in the modeling both involve the notion of symmetry. Taking the actual port-hinterland transportation network of the Yangtze River Economic Belt as an example, the results reveal that the railway-road intermodal transport is promoted and the change in total network CO₂ emissions is contrary to that in total network costs. Additionally, both network costs and network emissions increase significantly with the growth of the lower bound of probability for chance constraint. The higher the probability level grows, the greater the trade-offs between two objectives are influenced, which indicates that the operation capacity of inland intermodal terminals should be increased to meet the high probability level. These findings can help provide decision supports for the green development strategy of the port-hinterland container transportation network, which meanwhile faces a dynamic planning problem caused by stochastic demands in real life. Full article

Railway networks have different levels of development, which affects the overall transport process and integrated sustainable development. This paper presents a methodology to assess and classify the railway network performance along the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) core network corridor. The Orient–East Med corridor (OEM) has been examined. Twenty-two infrastructural, economic and technological criteria for assessment of railway transport have been proposed. The countries were ranked used multi-criteria decision making (MCDM), by applying the Sequential Interactive Modelling for Urban Systems (SIMUS). A sensitivity analysis was performed regarding each objective, and then, their allowable range of variation was determined without modifying the whole ranking of countries. The criteria weights have been determined on the basis of the output of using the SIMUS method. It was found that the main criteria for ranking the countries are: length of the connecting railway lines of the corridor in the country, length of the railway lines in the country, number of intermodal terminals, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, passengers transport performance, freight transport performance for the railway network, corridor freight usage intensity. It was found that the railway transport in the area of the OEM corridor located in Central Europe is better developed than in the Southeast European area. A cluster analysis was performed to classify countries into groups to verify the results. The results show that the eight countries included in the OEM corridor can be classified into three groups. The methodology could be used to make decisions about transport planning and improvement of the connectivity and sustainability of the railway transport, considering their development. Full article

In the past, most researchers have paid attention to the storage space allocation problem in maritime container terminals, while few have studied this problem in rail–water intermodal container terminals. Therefore, this paper proposes a storage space allocation problem to look for a symmetry point between the efficiency and effectivity of rail–water intermodal container terminals and the unbalanced allocations and reallocation operations of inbound containers in the railway operation area, which are two interactive aspects. In this paper, a two-stage model on the storage space allocation problem is formulated, whose objective is to balance inbound container distribution and minimize overlapping amounts, considering both stacking principles, such as container departure time, weight and stacking height, and containers left in railway container yards from earlier planning periods. In Stage 1, a novel simulated annealing algorithm based on heuristics is introduced and a new heuristic algorithm based on a rolling horizon approach is developed in Stage 2. Computational experiments are implemented to verify that the model and algorithm we introduce can enhance the storage effect feasibly and effectively. Additionally, two comparison experiments are carried out: the results show that the approach in the paper performs better than the regular allocation approach and weight constraint is the most important influence on container storage. Full article

Growing competition in the global market imposes the need for adequate planning of transportation processes and development of intermodal transport networks, whereby intermodal terminals play a key role. This paper proposes a methodology for prioritization of the intermodal terminal’s development features, as the procedure in its planning process, leading to the design of the intermodal terminal in accordance with the needs of various stakeholders and the principles of the sustainable development. As the stakeholders often have conflicting interests and objectives, it is necessary to consider a broad set of requirements and developmental features that enable the fulfillment of the defined requirements. In order to solve the problem this paper proposes a new hybrid multi-criteria decision-making model that combines Delphi, Analytical Network Process (ANP) and Quality Function Deployment (QFD) methods in the fuzzy environment. The applicability of the proposed model is demonstrated by solving an example of planning an intermodal terminal in Belgrade. Full article

The continuous increase of trade between China and Europe brought congestion problems at major Chinese seaports. An effective way to solve this issue is to set up intermodal terminals often called dry ports. However, the dynamics of various influenced factors on dry port’s implementation calls for the adaptive and flexible planning of the terminal. This paper analyzes the shortcomings of previous research related to the dry port’s implementation from the perspective of the applied numerous parameters concerning evaluating its operational efficiency and sustainability. The operational efficiency and sustainability of a dry port are evaluated by the developed system of the main parameters. This system gives the understanding of how these parameters are interrelated between each other and fills the gap in studies of inverse interrelations between main parameters of a dry port. To fully understand the sustainability of the main parameters of a dry port, this paper puts forward the simulation models description of the developed system. The developed model is a practical tool to evaluate the reliability of hypotheses about the functional interrelations between the main parameters of the dry port, as well as to evaluate the sustainability of the system. Finally, in order to develop functional interrelations between main parameters, the data from several Chinese dry ports has been collected. Finally, the developed multi-agent system dynamics model has been validated in the case study of Yiwu dry port located in Zhejiang, China. Full article

Intermodal logistics service providers decide on the routing of demand through their service network. Long-haul routing decisions determine the selected departure and arrival terminals for containers and imply corresponding drayage tasks. Traditionally, given these long-haul routes and fixed drayage tasks, drayage operations are planned in a second phase by establishing truck routes to transport containers to and from terminals by truck. In this paper, operational decisions on local drayage routing in large-volume freight regions with multiple terminals on the one hand, and intermodal long-haul routing on the other hand are merged into an integrated intermodal routing problem. Different long-haul routing decisions imply different drayage tasks to be performed and thus impact total trucking costs. The approach aims at reducing the number of road kilometres and increases bundling opportunities by maximising the long-haul capacity utilisation. In this way, it contributes to the modal shift towards intermodal transport and a more sustainable transport system. As a weekly planning horizon is used, a maximum daily active time and a minimum overnight’s rest are included for multi-day drayage routing. A large neighbourhood search heuristic is proposed to solve the integrated intermodal routing problem. This integrated planning approach provides decision support for routing customer orders throughout the intermodal network with the aim of minimising total transport costs and maximising capacity utilisation. Experiments show the added value of the integrated approach, which uses more information to make better-informed decisions and increase the capacity utilisation. The largest savings in trucking costs are obtained for clustered instances with demand characteristics closest to real-life cases. Finally, a real-life case study analyses the impact of tactical service network design decisions on the total operational costs. Full article