Container logistics is under increasing pressure to deliver efficient and sustainable hinterland transport. Achieving this requires improving the performance of environmentally friendly modes, such as inland waterway transport. This study examines the potential of cargo consolidation as a strategy to tackle suboptimal filling rates of containers, one of the most persistent inefficiencies in the Rhine-Alpine Corridor. We develop an integrated optimization model that holistically accounts for the operational and spatial requirements of consolidation, assessing the sensitivity of the strategy to labor costs, fuel prices, value of time, and vessel costs. The results show that, despite additional handling and coordination costs, consolidation can reduce overall transport costs by up to 4 % and attract as much as 42 % more container volumes to IWT on specific origin-destination connections. Vessel occupation rates emerge as a decisive factor in determining consolidation benefits, while cost parameters such as labor and fuel prices strongly influence outcomes. The research illustrates how optimizing this strategy can contribute to the sustainability of port-hinterland container transport and discusses the conditions required for its realization.

Inland waterway transport (IWT) stands out as one of the most sustainable modes of freight transport for port-hinterland connections. However, the full potential of IWT remains underutilized in Europe due to logistical inefficiencies. Specifically, the low loading factors of vessels and containers result in the need for more services to transport the same level of cargo, leading to increased costs and travel time, thereby diminishing market competitiveness. The aim of this paper is to develop a spatial-economic assessment of a cargo consolidation strategy for IWT, leveraging a discrete event simulation model that accounts for network characteristics, modal competition with road and rail services, travel time, and costs. It employs an evaluation framework that focuses on cost savings per TEU of different implementation scenarios. A case study on container flows in the Rhine-Alpine Corridor was conducted, evaluating three strategic locations for deploying a container freight station. Compared to the baseline scenario, only one implementation location resulted in positive cost savings, contingent on the annual proportion of less-than-container-load units eligible for consolidation. The study offers insights for infrastructure planning decision-making by identifying a convenient location for the container freight station and determining the necessary conditions of container flows that would enable the policy to be beneficial.

The design and pricing of services are two of the most important decisions faced by any intermodal transport operator. The key success factor lies in the ability to meet the needs of the shippers. Therefore, making full use of the available information about the demand helps to come up with good design and pricing decisions. With this in mind, we propose a Choice-Driven approach, incorporating advanced choice models directly into a Service Network Design and Pricing problem. We evaluate this approach considering both deterministic and stochastic choice models. To reduce the computational time for the stochastic instances, we propose a predetermination heuristic. The proposed models are compared to a benchmark, where shippers are solely cost-minimizers. Results show that the operator's profits can be significantly improved, even with deterministic models. The stochastic versions further increase the realized profits: in particular, considering shippers’ heterogeneity allows a better estimation of the demand.

Container transport via inland waterways currently faces several challenges affecting its competitiveness with other modes. These challenges include the high waiting time experienced by container barges and the low priority given to container barges in deepsea ports. To mitigate these challenges, a new concept known as the Modular Mobile Terminal (MMT) is introduced to create a dedicated floating barge handling and consolidation space for containers in deepsea ports. Based on this, the present study proposes an assessment methodology examining the feasibility of the MMT from a logistical and economic perspective. In doing this, a time optimization model was developed to determine the number of MMTs leading to the most time savings for container barges. It also helps target a market by finding the hinterland flows that can be positively linked to the MMTs. Afterward, an economic evaluation is conducted to determine the cost savings for the actors and determine under which conditions the actors would benefit from using the MMT system. The proposed methodology is then applied in a case study for the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam to derive insights into the efficiency and profitability of the MMTs. Results revealed that the MMTs would be most suitable for vessels transporting small cargo volumes below 60 Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs). Furthermore, the analysis suggests that two MMTs would be optimal for the port of Antwerp, and four for the port of Rotterdam, to achieve an overall net benefit for all the actors. Thus, it can be concluded that the MMTs are most suitable for handling and consolidating cargoes from container barges with small call sizes.