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Urban Freight Lab

Research Topic: Multimodal: Port and Intermodal

Intermodal and multimodal transportation are both strategies for moving cargo from its point of origin to its destination, or between segments, using multiple methods of transport, such as truck, rail, barge ship, or any combination of modes. Multimodal transport is performed with at least two different modes of transport but under a single contract. Intermodal is performed by multiple modes, where each mode has different carriers responsible, each with its own contract.

Student Thesis and Dissertations

Integrating Drayage Truck and Marine Terminal Operations to Improve Intermodal System Efficiency

Publication Date: 2011
Summary:

Container terminals are important intermodal interfaces between marine and land transport networks. These interfaces have historically been sources of congestion and logistical inefficiencies. Exacerbated by growing trade volumes, the terminals have become bottlenecks in the port-related supply chain. This research explores using truck arrival information to integrate drayage truck and container terminal operations and improve intermodal system efficiency. The first part of the dissertation investigates whether and to what extent pre-arrival information regarding drayage trucks can be used to reduce operational inefficiencies and truck delays within the terminal. An advanced container rehandling strategy is proposed for using truck arrival information to reduce container rehandling work, and a computer simulation model is developed for evaluating the impact of truck arrival information on container handling efficiency by adopting the proposed strategy during the import container retrieval operation. In addition, a queuing model is employed to assess the impact of truck information on truck transaction time within a terminal. The research results demonstrate that any amount of information about arrival trucks is effective for improving yard crane productivity and reducing truck transaction time.

The second part of the dissertation investigates the travel time reliability of the port drayage network and evaluates the predictability of drayage truck travel time. A simple but effective method is developed for predicting the 95% confidence interval of travel time between any OD pair and is validated with GPS data. The research results indicate that the proposed travel time prediction method is quite accurate in estimating the arrival time window of trucks at the terminals. It is therefore sufficient to support the implementation of the proposed container rehandling strategy. Overall, this research provides terminal operators with insights as to the impact of truck arrival information on system efficiency of drayage truck/terminal operations, travel time prediction method to improve information quality, and operational strategies to effectively utilize such information. The research results can identify terminals likely to experience significant benefits if utilizing truck information, and inform the design of a data sharing system and tools for acquiring better information.

Authors: Wenjuan Zhao
Recommended Citation:
Zhao, Wenjuan (2011). Integrating Drayage Truck and Marine Terminal Operations to Improve Intermodal System Efficiency, University of Washington Doctoral Dissertation.
Thesis: Array
Paper

Guide for Conducting Benefit-Cost Analyses of Multimodal, Multijurisdictional Freight Corridor Investments

URL: https://trid.trb.org/view.aspx?id=1467189
Publication: NCFRP Research Report
Volume: Project NCFRP-46
Publication Date: 2017
Summary:

This report provides a guidebook for conducting benefit-cost analyses of proposed infrastructure investments on multimodal, multi-jurisdictional freight corridors for public and private decision-makers and other stakeholders at local, state, regional, and national levels to arrive at more informed investment decisions.

The guidebook is a resource and a reference for multimodal freight investment benefit-cost analysis, data sources, procedures, and tools for projects of different geographic scales.

To help practitioners get started, the guidebook is presented in a “how to” format relying on discrete steps that are accompanied with realistic and recent examples, a fully worked out case study, checklists of dos and don’ts, and supporting worksheets.

View TRB Webinar: Benefit Cost Methodologies for Evaluating Multimodal Freight Corridor Investments

Authors: Dr. Anne Goodchild, Sharada Vadali, C. James Kruse, Kenneth Kuhn
Recommended Citation:
Vadali, Sharada, C. James Kruse, Kenneth Kuhn, and Anne Goodchild. Guide for Conducting Benefit-Cost Analyses of Multimodal, Multijurisdictional Freight Corridor Investments. No. Project NCFRP-46. 2017.
Paper

Current State of Estimation of Multimodal Freight Project Impacts

 
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URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3141/2410-16
Publication: Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board
Volume: 2410
Pages: 141-149
Publication Date: 2014
Summary:

As available data have increased and as the national transportation funding bills have moved toward objective evaluation, departments of transportation (DOTs) throughout the United States have begun to develop tools to attempt to measure the effects of different projects. Increasingly, DOTs recognize that the freight transportation system is necessarily multimodal. However, no DOTs have clearly stated objective tools with which to evaluate multimodal freight project comparisons.

This paper fills that gap by summarizing the existing academic literature on the state of the science for the estimation of freight project impacts and by reviewing methods currently used by selected DOTs nationwide. These methods are analyzed to identify common themes to determine potential avenues for multimodal project evaluation.

Authors: Dr. Anne Goodchild, Erica Wygonik, Daniel Holder, B. McMullen
Recommended Citation:
Wygonik, Erica, Daniel Holder, B. Starr McMullen, and Anne Goodchild. "Current State of Estimation of Multimodal Freight Project Impacts." Transportation Research Record 2410, no. 1 (2014): 141-149.