ArticlePublisher preview available

When road trains supply freight trains: scheduling the container loading process by gantry crane between multi-trailer trucks and freight trains

Authors:
Nils Boysen at Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Nils Boysen
Joachim Scholl at Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Joachim Scholl
Konrad Stephan
Konrad Stephan
Konrad Stephan
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
Read publisher preview
Download citation
To read the full-text of this research, you can request a copy directly from the authors.

Abstract and Figures

An efficient integration of rail transport into the hinterland traffic is an important topic for ports all around the world. In this context, we treat a scheduling problem where multi-trailer trucks (denoted as road trains) deliver containers to some gantry crane, which successively loads the boxes onto freight trains. A road train carries up to a dozen containers, so that a lot of energy is consumed especially when setting a road train in motion. Thus, there is a basic trade-off between the effort of road train and gantry crane. The more often a road train is relocated, the higher its own demand for energy, but the lower that for moving the crane when processing containers rather from nearby holding positions and vice versa. This paper formalizes the novel problem setting and suggests a heuristic decomposition approach, which determines the stop locations of the road train and schedules the gantry crane during the loading process.
Figures - available from: OR Spectrum
This content is subject to copyright. Terms and conditions apply.
A preview of this full-text is provided by Springer Nature.
Learn more
Content available from OR Spectrum
This content is subject to copyright. Terms and conditions apply.
OR Spectrum (2017) 39:137–164
DOI 10.1007/s00291-016-0446-y
REGULAR ARTICLE
When road trains supply freight trains: scheduling the
container loading process by gantry crane between
multi-trailer trucks and freight trains
Nils Boysen1·Joachim Scholl1·Konrad Stephan1
Received: 25 September 2015 / Accepted: 6 May 2016 / Published online: 21 May 2016
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016
Abstract An efficient integration of rail transport into the hinterland traffic is an
important topic for ports all around the world. In this context, we treat a scheduling
problem where multi-trailer trucks (denoted as road trains) deliver containers to some
gantry crane, which successively loads the boxes onto freight trains. A road train
carries up to a dozen containers, so that a lot of energy is consumed especially when
setting a road train in motion. Thus, there is a basic trade-off between the effort of
road train and gantry crane. The more often a road train is relocated, the higher its own
demand for energy, but the lower that for moving the crane when processing containers
rather from nearby holding positions and vice versa. This paper formalizes the novel
problem setting and suggests a heuristic decomposition approach, which determines
the stop locations of the road train and schedules the gantry crane during the loading
process.
Keywords Container logistics ·Train loading ·Gantry cranes ·Scheduling
1 Introduction
Many ports all around the world aim to shift their modal split of hinterland transport
from road to rail (and/or inland waterways). Especially for those ports located directly
in huge metropolitan areas strengthening the rail access promises a release of the city
centers from excessive automobile traffic. In the Port of Hamburg (Germany), for
BNils Boysen
nils.boysen@uni-jena.de
http://www.om.uni-jena.de
1Lehrstuhl für Operations Management, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Carl-Zeiß-Straße 3,
07743 Jena, Germany
123
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
... The initial shipment from the client and the final delivery is facilitated through trucks. Though there is a drive to convert as much freight traffic from road to rail, the usage of trucks can never be eliminated owing their door to door delivery functionality advantage (Boysen, Scholl and Stephan, 2017). ...
... The fifth and the last criterion is the continent of the terminal to which the paper is applied to. Performance 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 Anghinolfi, Caballini and Sacone, 2014Anghinolfi et al., 2012Boysen and Fliedner, 2009Boysen, Scholl and Stephan, 2017Bruns and Knust, 2012Bruns et al., 2014Caballini et al., 2008Carboni and Deflorio, 2020Carrese and Tatarelli, 2011Cavone, Dotoli and Seatzu, 2016aCavone, Dotoli and Seatzu, 2016bColombaroni, Fusco and Isaenko, 2017Corry and Kozan, 2004Corry and Kozan, 2005Corry and Kozan, 2006aCorry and Kozan, 2006bCorry and Kozan, 2008Di Febbraro, Porta and Sacco, 2006Dotoli, Epicoco and Seatzu, 2015Dotoli et al. 2013Dotoli et al., 2014Dotoli et al., 2017Ferreira and Sigut, 1993Ferreira and Sigut, 1995Foti et al., 2012Galuszka, 2009Galuszka and Daniec, 2010Garcia, 2015Garcia and Garcia, 2009Gronalt, Benna and Posset, 2007Guo et al., 2013 Aim ...
... A nearest neighbor heuristic has been used to solve a CSP for a special case of multi trailer trucks (road trains) (Boysen, Scholl and Stephan, 2017). Further, a Fix & Optimize approach is suggested to solve a CSP with External Trucks and is found to give favorable results (Guo, et al., 2018). ...
Gantry Crane Scheduling and Storage Techniques in Rail- Road Terminals
Conference Paper
Full-text available
  • Dec 2021
Purpose: A rising global container throughput has necessitated the need for more efficient terminals. This work focuses on identifying past developments, important methods, key performance indicators and the future trends, related to the main decision tasks in an inland rail-road terminal. Prime focus is upon day-to-day operations performed on container entry through trains and trucks. Methodology: A comprehensive systematic literature survey is carried out and a classification scheme developed, which is applied to the considered publications. Various techniques used to formulate the model and common solution approaches are identified for the key decision problems. Limitations in the current literature recognized and potential future research directions suggested. Findings: Crane scheduling and storage space allocation are the most concentrated-upon problems. Simulation platforms have been largely used to model the problems and heuristics is the most common approach to solve other models. Time taken and costs involved are sought to be minimized. Originality: In literature, marine container terminals have received greater attention as compared to inland terminals. Due to differing operation procedures, relevant research results from marine cannot be applied directly to railway terminals. Moreover, some of the existing works related to inland were found to disregard certain practical issues rendering them inapplicable for real applications.
View
... If there are a large number of containers for the same voyage, an attempt is made not to place cargo for the same voyage in one spot. This is to ensure that two or more transtainers can work on these containers at the same time without interference (Boysen et al., 2017). ...
Technical Efficiency of Container Terminal Operations in Southwestern Seaport in Nigeria
Article
  • Dec 2023
Containerization plays a crucial role in international trade. It promotes the oceanic business, generally pertinent to container terminals. Despite the various benefits of the container terminal to maritime trade and the economic development of nations with seaports, Nigerian ports are suffering from a progressive decline compared to other thriving ports in other parts of the globe. Hence, this study evaluates the technical efficiency of container terminal operations in southwestern seaport in Nigeria. Survey research design was adopted for this study in which Multi-stage sampling technique was used. Both primary and secondary data were collected from the annual report and questionnaire respectively from staff of the container terminal operators in Tincan Island Port Complex and Apapa Port Complex. The result from the findings showed that four factors influenced container terminal capacity and port performance. These include port charges, stevedoring operations, unserviceable cranes and ship calls. Also, the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) findings showed that AP Moller Terminal, PCHS, and PTML have a crste, vrste, and scale efficiency of 1, indicating they are fully technically efficient under both constant and variable returns to scale. It was concluded that AP Moller Terminal, PCHS and PTML are the most efficient terminal in South-Western Ports in Nigeria. It was recommended that periodic training and retraining of staff handling modern equipment should be prioritized and also, increase in port charges by the terminal operators should be addressed to encourage freight forwarders to clear their cargo on time at the port.
View
... On the other hand, most of the contributions consider a mathematical programming or analytical approach in terms of modeling, and few consider an analytical approach or Markov chains (Boysen et al., , 2017Hirata & Fukaya, 2020;Larson et al., 2016;Larsson et al., 2015;Xiong et al., 2020). With respect to the solution methodologies, there is a relatively similar number of exact and approximate approaches. ...
A Robust Optimization Approach for Platooning of Automated Ground Vehicles in Port Hinterland Corridors
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2023
  • COMPUT IND ENG
Modern ports face significant challenges as strategic nodes of global supply chains, being responsible for the coordination of inbound and outbound flows at deep-sea and in hinterland transport corridors. Digitization and the adoption of disruptive technologies can help ports to tide over operational challenges. Automated Ground Vehicles (AGVs) are an integral part of operations at many modern ports, especially inside container terminals. With the shift to automated transport outside of the terminal areas, these AGVs may form platoons to establish an efficient port hinterland transport corridor. In this work, we propose a new robust optimization approach to assess the time and cost-efficiency of applying such AGV platoons in a container pickup and delivery problem. We develop a bi-objective mixed-integer programming model, which simultaneously minimizes time and cost elements, and also considers emissions. Each transportation task can be carried out by AGVs or conventional trucks, while the number of available vehicles for each mode is uncertain (as they are used to connect different modalities of container transport). The robust optimization model is based on an ellipsoidal uncertainty set to handle this uncertainty and an augmented epsilon constraint method to obtain Pareto-optimal solutions for this multi-objective problem. The developed framework is evaluated in two case studies: the Port of Rotterdam in The Netherlands and the Port of Valparaíso in Chile, with different traveling distances in corridors to a dry port (200 km) and a pre-terminal (11 km), respectively. The results indicate that the new direct delivery scheme by AGV platoons is significantly more cost- and time-efficient than the benchmark and provides a low-carbon emission transportation mode. While the benefits of decreased dwell times (56% on average) and carbon emissions (on average by 10%) are similar for short and long traveling distances, the savings in cost increase (from 4.9% to 8%) with the increased distance in the Rotterdam case.
View
... Most of the research efforts are concentrated in developing sophisticated models for determining crane schedules to perform efficient transshipment operations (Li et al., 2019;Otto et al., 2017;Guo et al., 2018Guo et al., , 2021. To alleviate the crane effort, some authors have developed crane scheduling models by integrating the appropriate parking position of trailers (Boysen et al., 2017b;Tschöke and Boysen, 2018). Crane scheduling is challenging because of the existence of interference between cranes, see Boysen et al. (2017a) for a discussion. ...
A rail-road transshipment yard picture
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2022
  • TRANSPORT RES E-LOG
We develop a methodology for measuring the expected operational performance of the transshipment yard of a rail-road terminal. This includes the derivation of closed-form expressions for quantifying the expected crane cycle time and its variance under completely randomized operations of gantry cranes within its dedicated region. We also provide a method to measure the expected truck waiting times under cranes considering priority rules for truck service. An analysis of the performance measures shows the causes of inefficiencies and congestion sources. Our results show that non-synchronized operations have a notorious impact on transshipment yard performance, handling capacity and congestion.
View
... For each IT, Equations (24) and (25) indicate each task has only one task as an immediate predecessor and one task as an immediate follower. Equation (26) defines the relationship between IT assignment and IT scheduling. Equation (27) avoids the sub-circuit of each IT operation. ...
Allocation and Scheduling of Handling Resources in the Railway Container Terminal Based on Crossing Crane Area
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2021
The integrated allocation and scheduling of handling resources are crucial problems in the railway container terminal (RCT). We investigate the integrated optimization problem for handling resources of the crane area, dual-gantry crane (GC), and internal trucks (ITs). A creative handling scheme is proposed to reduce the long-distance, full-loaded movement of GCs by making use of the advantages of ITs. Based on this scheme, we propose a flexible crossing crane area to balance the workload of dual-GC. Decomposing the integrated problem into four sub-problems, a multi-objective mixed-integer programming model (MIP) is developed. By analyzing the characteristic of the integrated problem, a three-layer hybrid heuristic algorithm (TLHHA) incorporating heuristic rule (HR), elite co-evolution genetic algorithm (ECEGA), greedy rule (GR), and simulated annealing (SA) is designed for solving the problem. Numerical experiments were conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model and algorithm. The results show that the proposed algorithm has excellent searching ability, and the simultaneous optimization scheme could ensure the requirements for efficiency, effectiveness, and energy-saving, as well as the balance rate of dual-GC.
View
View
Collaborative Optimization of Multi-Equipment Scheduling and Intersection Point Allocation for U-Shaped Automated Sea-Rail Intermodal Container Terminals
Article
  • Jan 2024
Guided by green and low-carbon policies, the construction of intelligent container terminals is imperative. Based on the emerging U-shaped automated sea-rail intermodal container terminal (SRICT), this paper focuses on the collaborative optimization of multi-equipment scheduling and intersection point allocation considering direct and indirect transshipment modes. With the objectives of maximizing the balanced workload of bilateral-cantilever automated yard cranes (AYCs) and minimizing the invalid operation cost of the yard, a bi-objective programming model is formulated to determine the handling area for bilateral-cantilever AYCs, intersection points for direct transshipment containers, and scheduling schemes for bilateral-cantilever AYCs, automated guided vehicles (AGVs), and internal trucks (ITs). We employ Q-learning (QL) and cumulative prospect theory (CPT) based on multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) to solve the model by guiding the search and adaptively adjusting parameters. By comparing evaluation indicators, we have verified that our algorithm is superior to the benchmark algorithms. We conducted comparative experiments on various repair operators and optimization strategies. Results indicate that the proposed model and algorithm can balance the workload of AYCs, reduce energy consumption, and improve handling efficiency. Note to Practitioners —This paper addresses the transshipment connection between ships, the yard, and trains. The U-shaped automated SRICT adopted a side-operation layout with more interaction points. Furthermore, due to constraints related to laying cables and the environment, automation technology has not fully covered all functional areas at the SRICT. Therefore, the new layout and semi-automation present a challenge for transferring sea-rail intermodal containers. This paper proposes a tailored model and algorithm for emerging automated SRICTs with bilateral-cantilever AYCs. The collaborative optimization of multi-equipment scheduling (AYCs, AGVs, and ITs) and intersection point allocation is studied for the first time.
View
View
View
Levelling crane workload in multi-yard rail-road container terminals
Article
  • Jan 2021
  • EUR J OPER RES
In modern rail-road container terminals, container transshipment between trains and trucks is carried out by large gantry cranes that span over rail tracks and road lanes. Prior optimization approaches have mainly focused on the short-term scheduling of these crucial transshipment resources. In this work, we focus on a midterm planning level that assigns inbound trains to yard tracks such that trains can be serviced by yard resources on schedule. This planning task is especially crucial in larger terminal settings which comprise more than a single yard, which is increasingly typical in growing intermodal networks. We describe the planning situation we encountered at a large rail-road terminal in Germany and propose a mixed-integer model formulation that captures the core of the decision problem. Further, we carry out a complexity analysis of problem variants and develop a heuristic solution procedure in a simulated annealing framework based on these structural insights. The approach is tested in a comprehensive computational study which demonstrates the viability of the approach to solve instances of real-world size.
View
Sequencing a One State-Variable Machine: A Solvable Case of the Traveling Salesman Problem
Article
Full-text available
  • Oct 1964
We consider a machine with a single real variable x that describes its state. Jobs J1, ', JN are to be sequenced on the machine. Each job requires a starting state A, and leaves a final state Bi. This means that Ji can be started only when x = Ai and, at the completion of the job, x = Bi. There is a cost, which may represent time or money, etc., for changing the machine state x so that the next job may start. The problem is to find the minimal cost sequence for the N jobs. This problem is a special case of the traveling salesman problem. We give a solution requiring only 0N2 simple steps. A solution is also provided for the bottleneck form of this traveling salesman problem under special cost assumptions. This solution permits a characterization of those directed graphs of a special class which possess Hamiltonian circuits.
View
A generalized classification scheme for crane scheduling with interference
Article
  • Aug 2016
  • EUR J OPER RES
Nowadays, many industries rely on cranes for efficiently executing storage and retrieval operations of goods. Areas of application are, for instance, container logistics in seaports and warehousing operations in automated storage and retrieval systems. Therefore, it is not astounding that plenty scientific papers on crane scheduling in many different yet closely related logistics settings have accumulated. In many of these problems, crane interference occurs. A prominent example are non-crossing constraints where cranes share a common pathway and cannot overtake each other. In order to structure this vast field of research, this paper provides a classification scheme for crane scheduling problems with crane interference. We apply this scheme to classify the existing literature, to determined the status-quo of complexity results, and to identify future research needs.
View
A survey on single crane scheduling in automated storage/retrieval systems
Article
  • Apr 2016
  • EUR J OPER RES
This paper addresses the scheduling of a single storage/retrieval machine (or crane) in automated storage/retrieval systems (ASRSs). A novel classification scheme is presented for precisely defining different versions of the crane scheduling problem, when varying the layout of the ASRS, the characteristics of the storage and retrieval requests, and the objective function. This classification scheme is then applied for presenting different (known and novel) exact algorithms and complexity proofs for a variety of crane scheduling problems, for reviewing the literature, and for identifying future research needs.
View
A dynamic programming based heuristic for locating stops in public transportation networks
Article
  • Oct 2014
  • COMPUT IND ENG
The length of journey towards a bus stop or railway station greatly influences passenger satisfaction and, thus, the utilization of public transport offers. In this context, we investigate the maximum covering location problem in networks (MCLPN) where stops (or stations) are to be located in a given railway or bus network, such that the number of passengers reaching a stop within their particular coverage radius is maximized. Up to now, no specialized solution procedure directly addressing MCLPN exists, instead it is mainly referred to the well-known maximum covering location problem (MCLP), which, however, neglects the underlaying information of the given network structure. This paper exploits the network information, introduces a fast and efficient two-stage dynamic programming based heuristic specifically tailored to MCLPN, and compares it to existing procedures for MCLP. The results show that our heuristic delivers near optimal solutions, i.e., 87% of our test instances are solved to optimality, within a few seconds of computational time.
View
Simulation-based optimization for housekeeping in a container transshipment terminal
Article
  • Jan 2015
  • COMPUT OPER RES
An important activity in container transshipment terminals consists in transferring containers in the yard from their current temporary positions to different positions closer to the point along the berth from which the containers will be boarded on departing vessels. This housekeeping process aims at speeding-up discharge and loading operations and, thus, relieving congestion. This article introduces a heuristic procedure to manage the routing of multi-trailer systems and straddle carriers in a maritime terminal. A simulation model embedded in a local search heuristic allows a proper evaluation of the impact of different vehicle schedules on congestion and throughput. Computational experiments performed on test instances derived from real-life data show that important improvements in routing distance and vehicle waiting time can be obtained compared to the use of standard scheduling policies.
View
A Genetic Algorithm for the Clustered Traveling Salesman Problem with a Prespecified Order on the Clusters
Conference Paper
  • Dec 1997
The Clustered Traveling Salesman Problem is an extension of the classical Traveling Salesman Problem, where the set of vertices is partitioned into clusters. The goal is to find the shortest tour such that the clusters are visited in a prespecified order and all vertices within each cluster are visited contiguously. In this paper, a genetic algorithm is proposed to solve this problem. Computational results are reported on a set of Euclidean problems and a comparison is provided with a recent heuristic.
View
A Survey on Container Processing in Railway Yards
Article
  • Aug 2013
In spite of extraordinary support programs initiated by the European Union and other national authorities, the percentage of overall freight traffic moved by train is in steady decline. This development has occurred because the macroeconomic benefits of rail traffic, such as the relief of overloaded road networks and reduced environmental impacts, are counterbalanced by severe disadvantages from the perspective of the shipper, e.g., low average delivery speed and general lack of reliability. Attracting a higher share of freight traffic on rail requires freight handling in railway yards that is more efficient, which includes technical innovations as well as the development of suitable decision support systems. This paper reviews container processing in railway yards from an operations research perspective and analyzes basic decision problems for the two most important yard types: conventional rail--road and modern rail--rail transshipment yards. Furthermore, we review the relevant literature and identify open research challenges.
View
A mathematical model of inter-terminal transportation
Article
  • Jun 2014
  • EUR J OPER RES
We present a novel integer programming model for analyzing inter-terminal transportation (ITT) in new and expanding sea ports. ITT is the movement of containers between terminals (sea, rail or otherwise) within a port. ITT represents a significant source of delay for containers being transshipped, which costs ports money and affects a port’s reputation. Our model assists ports in analyzing the impact of new infrastructure, the placement of terminals, and ITT vehicle investments. We provide analysis of ITT at two ports, the port of Hamburg, Germany and the Maasvlakte 1 & 2 area of the port of Rotterdam, The Netherlands, in which we solve a vehicle flow combined with a multi-commodity container flow on a congestion based time–space graph to optimality. We introduce a two-step solution procedure that computes a relaxation of the overall ITT problem in order to find solutions faster. Our graph contains special structures to model the long term loading and unloading of vehicles, and our model is general enough to model a number of important real-world aspects of ITT, such as traffic congestion, penalized late container delivery, multiple ITT transportation modes, and port infrastructure modifications. We show that our model can scale to real-world sizes and provide ports with important information for their long term decision making.
View
View
View