This thesis proposes a truck arrival shift (TAS) policy to control truck arrivals at seaport terminals. The aim is to reduce congestion at terminal gates which is caused by a lack of port-hinterland alignment. We proposed, developed, and applied a modeling framework to assesses the impact of the TAS policy for the use case of the Port of Rotterdam. This policy is designed for the implementation of a Time Slot Management System (TSMS) and takes the behavioural aspect of Truck Operating Companies (TOC) into account. The time of day preferences of TOC for container pick-ups are inferred from the exchange of information between port and hinterland stakeholders using discrete choice modelling (DCM). These preferences are used to shift truck arrivals and consequently reduce the high waiting time of trucks at terminals gates. To evaluate the effectiveness of the designed TAS policy, we developed a simulation platform that resembles terminal operations using discrete-event simulation (DES). For the allocation of trucks to a certain time period, a choice-based heuristic is designed to approximate the optimum configuration of the TAS policy. The optimum TAS policy design shows that significant gain can be obtained at a low shift rate. Moreover, a measurable amount of waiting time gain can be achieved by the application of the designed TAS policy.

This report is written with the aim to evaluate a possible port expansion in the port of San Vicente, Chile. In order to achieve this a thorough analysis on the port operations, hydrodynamical analysis using Delft3D and a bottleneck analysis on the infrastructure have been executed. A preliminary design for the port expansion is created. This design focuses on the land reclamation, the new revetment and the new port layout.