Dispatching Yard Cranes in Port Container Terminals

For economical operation of container terminals, it is essential to develop efficient rules for the operation of marshaling yards and yard cranes. This study addresses rules of operation for container yards with multiple yard cranes (YCs) in a block. A method to evaluate travel times of YCs considering interference among YCs is proposed. Various dispatching and task sequencing rules for YCs are suggested. The results of the simulation of the terminal operation by using various operation rules are discussed.