Collaborative optimization of container allocation and yard crane deployment based on truck appointment system

Abstract

Due to the increase of container transport volume and the limitation of yard resources, yard congestions in container terminal have become increasingly serious. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize the problem of container allocation and yard crane deployment for import containers. With the extensive application of truck appointment system, yard resources allocation could be performed based on the appointment application submitted by shippers or trucking companies. Taking the information of truck appointment system and arrival period of vessels into account, a two-stage programming model is proposed. The container allocation problem is solved to balance the workload among different blocks in first stage, while the second stage aims to minimize the total shifting distance of yard cranes. Then, solver CPLEX is used to provide optimal solution for numerical experiments. It is concluded from experiments that the proposed mode is efficient in reducing the yard congestion by balancing the workload among blocks and decreasing the shifting distance of yard cranes, thus improving both the operational efficiency of yard and the accuracy of resources allocation.