Flexibilisation of intra-port container transport with time slot bookings

Truck appointment systems are a well-studied approach to reduce queues in front of container terminals and on their yard. Traditional systems are lacking in flexibility and tend to favour the terminal operators over other partners in the maritime supply chain. To enable a better fit of appointment systems to ports and to increase their flexibility, a systematic analysis of different parameters and strategies and their interdependencies is executed. The results show that longer time slots benefit terminal operators as well as trucking companies. Furthermore, the so-called flexibility options show some promise to increase efficiency with little extra effort. As there are many interdependencies, the parameters and strategies need to be chosen with care for every container terminal.