A Real-Time Collaborative System For Container Trucks In The Port Of Antwerp: A Large Scale Simulation

Abstract

In this work, a primary proof of concept of a real-time shared planning system (SPS) for container trucks in a port setting is presented. The aim of such an SPS is to provide a flexible system which allows horizontal collaboration between road carriers with the aim on improving the overall efficiency of the logistic chain. Its impact on the drayage in the port is studied in the context of a large-scale simulation which models the relevant operations in the logistic chain that handles container transport over roads. This simulation will be based on the case of the port of Antwerp; the traffic network will explicitly be taken into account along with the interactions between trucks on this network, which will be modelled by a mesoscopic traffic model. A first version of a globally optimising SPS will be implemented within this simulation, and a comparison will be made to the situation where each carrier optimises its own individual planning.