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Inter-terminal transportation: an annotated bibliography and research agenda

Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal volume 29, pages 35–63 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

The seemingly unlimited growth of containerized transport is nowadays associated with an increasing number of seaport container terminals and facilities as well as demand for port-centric value-added and just-in-time logistics services. Intense global and local competition as well as geographical limitations urgently require efficient means to handle inter-terminal transportation. Many factors influence the productivity and efficiency of inter-terminal transportation as well as its economic and environmental implications. In the last two decades, these aspects have led to a growing interest in research, in particular concerning decision analytics and innovative information technology aiming to better understand, improve, and operate inter-terminal transportation. In this paper, we present a chronological overview of related works as an annotated bibliography in order to reflect the current state of research. Furthermore, we identify future research issues and propose a respective research agenda.

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Fig. 1

Notes

  1. De Vries (2013) proposes an ontology for defining ITT ecosystems and further discusses physical, functional, and non-functional requirements. Jansen (2013) investigates cost effects of collaboration compared to self transportation by proposing a SM for evaluating different ITT configurations in this respect. The author points out that a large container flow stems from the transport of empty containers to and from empty container depots. Liu (2013) investigates the implications of an ITT asset-light approach by extending the IP model of Tierney et al. (2014) in order to allow adding extra vehicles at any point in time. Van den Berg (2013) proposes an asset-light solution for ITT assuming that residual capacity of visiting trucks can be flexibly used to handle ITT operations. An SM is used to determine how much extra capacity, besides the available capacity of trucks and barges, is needed to ensure that every container is delivered on time. Gerritse (2014) analyzes demand scenarios for the PoR MV1+2 in 2030 with respect to different ITT streams including import and export container streams, empty container streams, container flows from and to common logistics services and auxiliary services (e.g., customs) areas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Information Systems, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Leonard Heilig & Stefan Voß

  2. Escuela de Ingeniería Industrial, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaiso, Chile

    Stefan Voß

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  1. Leonard Heilig
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Correspondence to Leonard Heilig.

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Heilig, L., Voß, S. Inter-terminal transportation: an annotated bibliography and research agenda. Flex Serv Manuf J 29, 35–63 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10696-016-9237-7

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Keywords

  • Inter-termal transportation
  • Planning
  • Optimization
  • Simulation
  • Information technology
  • Survey
  • Research agenda