Container terminal capacity is often limited by (in)efficiency bottlenecks. This paper provides the design and proof of concept for the bottleneck mitigation cycle (BMC), consisting of three steps: bottleneck classification, detection and alleviation. While, often, the literature only focuses on alleviation of a single bottleneck and ignores bottleneck detection and interdependencies, this research uses the shifting bottleneck method and thereby considers a variety of possible infrastructural and operational bottlenecks. An empirical approach is adopted to find the cause of the detected bottleneck and to suggest suitable alleviation measures. Application of the BMC to a simulation model of the Fergusson Container Terminal in the Port of Auckland resulted in productivity improvements of 2–6%. To further improve the BMC, future research directions are to improve the empirical approach used for bottleneck alleviation and to apply the BMC in real-time.

This paper develops heuristic approaches to define the market and measure concentration in the inland transhipment market where different terminal operators compete. These approaches can be used by policymakers to implement more effective policies that could lead to an increase in the market share of intermodal freight transport (IFT). The first approach segments the market using a transport cost analysis. The second approach uses the total trade and the aggregate throughput of the terminals in each IFT demand area. The similarity in results validates the two approaches, suggesting that they can both be used in situations of limited data availability. Applying these approaches to the IFT network of the European Union, we find that inland transhipment markets in the EU are oligopolistic in structure and thus highly concentrated. In general, the north of the EU shows less concentration compared with the central and southern regions of Europe. According to the second approach, transhipment markets have a slightly higher degree of concentration compared with the first approach. Such concentration needs more attention from policymakers so as to develop policies to increase competition and to make economic policies more effective.

Scientific research on dry port development often focuses on advanced economies and is mostly lacking for developing countries such as Ethiopia. This paper developed a new integrated framework with three pillars (social, environmental, economics) for dry port development and its applicability is tested for Modjo Dry Port (MDP) in Ethiopia. The results indicate that most stakeholders prefer more efficient operations either on the current terminal or on an increased size terminal. Furthermore, the labour component is regarded as very important (high employment levels at the MDP terminal; approximately 1000) while in the scientific literature this is regarded as much less important. In Africa, employing people is important and reflects the desire to increase the labour force of MDP even further when expanding. This is remarkable as usually productivity growth results in a reduction in employees, especially given the already very high employment numbers for MDP. Finally, the relative equal importance of most sub-criteria results in a status quo where no decision is taken or the most optimal decision is not advocated.

This paper examines the use of big data and data analytics in international transport networks from the perspective of historical big data, focusing on shipping logs from the British, Dutch, Spanish and French fleets in between 1662 and 1855. Based on a large-scale database containing mainly meteorological data collected in the CLIWOC project (2003), we computed travel distances and analyzed historical global maritime networks. This paper focuses on route choice, and consequently the time, distance, speed and reliability of the ships, covering different time periods, seasonal patterns and trade flows. The results reveal a clear picture of the main routes per nationality that is also indicative of the linguistical, cultural and economic colonial heritage that remains in the ‘host’ countries up to this day. The average daily distances covered vary over the countries involved, over the seasons and over different time periods. Also the trip characteristics vary notably over the different countries. Zooming in on the main trade flows, the corridor from the Netherlands to Indonesia stands out, but also considerable differences in average speed and stopover times were found along this route. Related to the complexity of using big data in studying international transport networks, our conclusion is that the degree of permutations and interactions with the dataset is not necessarily less for analyzing historical shipping records. It seems that big data of the past still can inspire future explorations of our historical transport networks on the world's oceans.

Considerable scientific attention has been paid to inland port research and many of the papers are driven by an Outside-In perspective where the seaport is often regarded as leader and the inland port as follower. Increasingly, Inside-Out approaches where inland ports themselves are taking the initiative are receiving scientific attention. However, it is argued that both processes can be at play simultaneously within the same port and that these processes are reinforcing each other. The focus of this paper is therefore on defining powerful strategies for inland ports also from an Inside-Out and bi-directional perspective. We observe that not all developments connected to inland ports acting as extended gates for seaports are positive: for inland ports traffic conditions might worsen, and external effects increase (i.e. seaport problems are ‘exported’ inland). New powerful strategies for inland ports are amongst others: redefining their role versus seaports with a central role for the inland port, governments should give more attention to the inland port and seek the development of strategic plans and strategies for the inland port as to realize their own objectives. Seaports and container carriers increasingly seek partly ownership of inland ports and terminals and inland port themselves should analyze if these developments suit their ambitions. Inland ports could also develop network strategies that not solely focus on the closest seaports but also consider adjacent inland ports. Cooperation with other inland ports can also be developed into a strategy that strengthens the role of the inland port versus seaports.

Every year about 300 million tons of plastic is produced, resulting in more than five trillion plastic particles currently floating in the oceans five largest convergence zones. The Ocean Cleanup is testing a method to passively collect this floating plastic debris, transport, recycle, process and sell it. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate alternative logistics chains to accommodate ocean plastic waste recycling by connecting transport with data collection and data analytics. The scenarios are based on different geographical destinations, supply chain lengths and types, and offered local development opportunities. A new reverse logistics channel dedicated to the Ocean Cleanup is developed, as existing reverse logistics supply chains are not able to capture the specifics of the plastic waste collection. Performances of the different scenarios are assessed by collecting data (on plastic volumes collected from the Ocean, on usage of plastics as a resource, and on transport cost) and usage of a detailed integrated model which enables a performance comparison of different logistical structures on logistics costs and on plastics production outputs. The cheapest and most disappointing solution would be to do nothing. However, the analysis shows that more complicated logistic structures whereby the collected plastic waste is used to produce glasses, socks, and carpets can lead to sustainable business models for cleaning up the Oceans. If the focus would be only on cost, the best model would be to minimize the transport distance and focus on San Francisco as closest port for the selected gyre to be analyzed.

E-commerce is still a strong growing segment with fierce competition among parcel delivery service providers. To stay ahead of the competitors innovation is necessary. Currently, parcels are being delivered with large delivery vans which will usually deliver single parcels to doorsteps of their customers. This so called 'last mile delivery' is the most expensive logistics activity. In the literature it is proposed that parcel lockers have high potential to save cost. In our paper a literature review on parcel lockers, 3 methods for analysis are described and the results of a case study are provided.

China Railway Express (CRE) is one of the most important constituent parts of the Belt and Road Initiative. Freight demand analysis is fundamental as a basis for the operational strategy of CRE and the investment policy along the CRE-routes. Most of the existing relevant literature has focused on the organization of the train operations of CRE, with little research related to demand analysis. This paper contributes to filling this gap by estimating customers’ demand preferences for rail freight service attributes, by using a novel multi-criteria decision-analysis (MCDA) method namely Best-Worst Method (BWM). To this end, a BWM survey was conducted in China to capture customers’ preferences for the main attributes that define the transport service offered by CRE. Two variants of BWM, the linear and the Bayesian, are employed for the analysis. Reliability is suggested as the most important attribute for CRE to focus on, to gain customers. We also conduct a cluster analysis based on the results, which helps the CRE operator to identify homogeneous customer segments, and to optimize the use of CRE's resources with a differentiated pricing strategy.

With growing urban populations, higher mobility needs, limited available space for transport infrastructure, and the increasing need for more attractive urban areas, these urban areas are faced with a complex dilemma, which gets more challenging by the day. This paper examines the role of flexibility in the relationship between structural spatial development and passenger transport, its economic, environmental, and social perspectives, the long-term impacts of this relationship and the role of this relationship in developing countries. The paper identifies the need for a better understanding of long-term flexibility in development options in order to make better future-proof decisions as a key research avenue, and sets a pathway to achieve this. Main research gaps as identified in the paper include the lack of understanding on the potential for flexibility in optimizing the structural spatial development and passenger transport relationship, the valuation of flexibility, and the application of flexibility approaches in developing countries. This paper emphasizes the importance of acting sooner rather than later, since the future costs of sub-optimal development are rising by the day and the bill is being pushed towards future generations.

Modal shift from road haulage to short sea shipping (SSS) has been advocated by authorities and researchers for more than two decades. This paper provides a review of literature on modal shift and pinpoints paths for future research on topics in six categories: (1) factors influencing SSS competitiveness, (2) the policy-oriented perspective, (3) environmental legislation, (4) SSS performance, (5) port characteristics, and (6) the multi-agent perspective. In particular, we propose first, in evaluating the performance of SSS versus road haulage in different trade corridors, three performance-related dimensions–the economic dimension (e.g. external costs), the environmental dimension, and the dimension of service quality–should be considered. Second, researchers should use rich, real-world, numerical data and operational research techniques to identify the relative importance of individual drivers and barriers for a modal shift from road haulage to SSS. Third proposed direction is related to assessing which groups of actors certain policies should target. In doing so, researchers should extend their policy-related focus beyond the European Union, which has long encompassed the major geopolitical scope of research on the modal shift. Fourth, to moderate the adverse impact of environmental legislation on SSS, strategic solutions need to be identified. Fifth, we also suggest that the influence of contingencies, particularly port strikes and cyberattacks, on SSS operations and approaches for managing them should be investigated. Sixth, the economic and financial advantages of coordination and alliance for each transport chain agent need to be evaluated.

Over the past twenty-five years a considerable amount of literature has emerged that addresses inland port development in a variety of ways and in different institutional contexts. A recurring issue throughout most papers focusing on inland ports is the wide diversity of definitions, actors, functions, levels and geographies that are of relevance. Therefore, a literature review on inland port development contributes to defining the most important streams in inland port research. Recent studies show that the concept of inland ports is clearly much richer and more diversified than merely an extension of deep-sea ports or port logistics. However, as much of the literature is still largely based on individual case studies and anecdotal evidences, the conceptualization of inland ports has proven to be particularly difficult. Therefore, this review paper presents a systematic and integrated review of inland port studies, covering 80 international peer-reviewed academic journal papers on inland port development between 1992 and 2017. The results show that much attention is paid on inland ports as components of the ‘transport/logistics/supply chain’ systems (follower), while their roles as components of the ‘regional’ systems (leader) are largely overlooked. Such a tweaked focus is likely to pose significant impacts on planning, management, and governance of inland ports.