A New Simulation Model for a Comprehensive Evaluation of Yard Truck Deployment Strategies at Marine Container Terminals

Taking into account increasing volumes of the international seaborne trade and increasing port congestion, marine container terminal operators have to improve efficiency of their operations in order to provide timely service of vessels and avoid product delivery delays to customers. This paper focuses on improvement of container transfer operations between the seaside and the marshaling yard and proposes five yard truck deployment strategies. Performance of the considered marine container terminal is evaluated under each one of the yard truck deployment strategies via simulation. Different performance indicators are estimated to determine how the suggested yard truck deployment strategies will affect all equipment types, involved in container handling and transfer. Results from the extensive simulation experiments showcase that all five yard truck deployment strategies provide similar values of vessel service and quay crane performance indicators, while the shortest distance based yard truck deployment strategy yields superior gantry crane and yard truck performance indicators. The worst values of performance indicators are recorded for the random yard truck deployment strategy. Furthermore, the developed simulation model can serve as an efficient planning tool for marine container terminal operators and enhance productivity of the available equipment.

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