Barge container transport faces significant capacity management challenges due to no-show
uncertainty and arrival time deviations, leading to underutilized capacity on barges. This research
investigates the application of overbooking strategies in barge transportation to address these
challenges and provides decision support for managing uncertainty in barge operations. A
discrete-event simulation model was developed using Arena software to evaluate different
acceptance strategies, allocation methods, and overbooking rates under varying no-show
conditions. The study reveals that overbooking effectiveness is highly dependent on the allocation
strategies effectiveness and the no-show rates. With poor allocation strategies the penalties
incurred from overbooking increases significantly. At lower no-show rates, overbooking provides
limited benefits with disproportionately high trucking increase, while at higher rates, overbooking
restores capacity utilization while incurring less trucking. The trade-off analysis establishes a
framework to find opportunity cost thresholds for accepting additional orders, enabling operators
to evaluate economic viability based on their competitive position. This research extends
overbooking theory from traditional service industries to barge transportation and provides a
framework for capacity management in barge container transport with overbooking, offering
practical decision support tools for terminal operators to improve profits.