Impact and relevance of transit disturbances on planning in intermodal container networks using disturbance cost analysis

In North-West Europe, the options for intermodal inland transportation of containers are increasing. Inland corridors become increasingly interconnected in hinterland networks. To minimise operating costs, new methods are required that allow integral network operations management. The network operations consist of allocating containers to available inland transportation services, that is, planning. For adequate planning it is important to adapt to occurring disturbances. In this article, a new mathematical model is proposed: the Linear Container Allocation model with Time-restrictions. This model is used for determining the influence of three main types of transit disturbances on network performance: early service departure, late service departure and cancellation of inland services. The influence of a disturbance is measured in two ways. The impact measures the additional cost incurred by an updated planning in case of a disturbance. The relevance measures the cost difference between a fully updated and a locally updated plan. With the results of the analysis, key service properties of disturbed services that result in a high impact or high relevance can be determined. Based on this, the network operator can select focus areas to prevent disturbances with high impact and to improve the planning updates in case of disturbances with high relevance. The proposed method is used in a case study to assess the impact and relevance of transit disturbances on inland services of the European Gateway Services network.

[1]  Babette van Antwerpen-de Fluiter,et al.  Operational planning of a large-scale multi-modal transportation system , 2004, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[2]  B. S. Boardman,et al.  Computer assisted routing of intermodal shipments , 1997 .

[3]  M. Horst,et al.  Coordination in Hinterland Transport Chains: A Major Challenge for the Seaport Community , 2008 .

[4]  Henrik Stevens,et al.  The Port of Rotterdam , 1999 .

[5]  Cathy Macharis,et al.  Opportunities for OR in intermodal freight transport research: A review , 2004, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[6]  César Ducruet,et al.  The Competitiveness of Global Port-Cities: The Case of the Seine Axis (Le Havre, Rouen, Paris, Caen), France , 2011 .

[7]  Teodor Gabriel Crainic,et al.  Multicommodity, multimode freight transportation: A general modeling and algorithmic framework for the service network design problem , 1986 .

[8]  Gerrit K. Janssens,et al.  Planning Problems in Intermodal Freight Transport: Accomplishments and Prospects , 2008 .

[9]  Lori Tavasszy,et al.  Towards collaborative, intermodal hub networks. A case study in the fast moving consumer goods market , 2005 .

[10]  Jae Hyung Cho,et al.  An intermodal transport network planning algorithm using dynamic programming—A case study: from Busan to Rotterdam in intermodal freight routing , 2010, Applied Intelligence.

[11]  Rob Konings,et al.  Comparative Strategies for Developing Hinterland Transport by Container Barge , 2010 .

[12]  Theo Notteboom,et al.  Container river services and gateway ports: Similarities between the Yangtze River and the Rhine River , 2007 .

[13]  Jose Manuel Vassallo,et al.  Nature or nurture: why do railroads carry greater freight share in the United States than in Europe? , 2007 .

[14]  Rafay Ishfaq,et al.  Design of intermodal logistics networks with hub delays , 2012, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[15]  Rob Zuidwijk,et al.  The extended gate concept for container terminals: Expanding the notion of dry ports , 2012 .

[16]  W. G. Cochran.  The $\chi^2$ Test of Goodness of Fit , 1952 .

[17]  Teodor Gabriel Crainic,et al.  Planning models for freight transportation , 1997 .

[18]  Rommert Dekker,et al.  Service Network Design for an Intermodal Container Network with Flexible Due Dates/Times and the Possibility of Using Subcontracted Transport , 2013 .

[19]  Johan Woxenius,et al.  The dry port concept: connecting container seaports with the hinterland , 2009 .

[20]  Yimin Zhang.  Shanghai Port and Yangtze River Gateway , 2007 .

[21]  Jean-Paul Rodrigue,et al.  COMPARATIVE NORTH AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN GATEWAY LOGISTICS: THE REGIONALISM OF FREIGHT DISTRIBUTION , 2010 .

[22]  J. Y. Yen,et al.  Finding the K Shortest Loopless Paths in a Network , 2007 .

[23]  James R Amdal,et al.  New Orleans Metropolitan Inland Waterway Container Transport (IWCT) feasibility study. , 2010 .

[24]  Kap-Hwan Kim,et al.  intermodal transportation , 2022, The Fairchild Books Dictionary of Fashion.

[25]  Athanasios K. Ziliaskopoulos,et al.  An intermodal optimum path algorithm for multimodal networks with dynamic arc travel times and switching delays , 2000, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[26]  Teodor Gabriel Crainic,et al.  Chapter 8 Intermodal Transportation , 2007, Transportation.

[27]  Jean-Paul Rodrigue,et al.  Dry ports in European and North American intermodal rail systems: Two of a kind? , 2012 .

[28]  Teodor Gabriel Crainic,et al.  A Multimode Multiproduct Network Assignment Model for Strategic Planning of Freight Flows , 1987, Transp. Sci..

[29]  K. Pearson.  On the χ 2 Test of Goodness of Fit , 1922 .