An Agent-Based Simulation Tool for Evaluating Pooled Queue Performance at Marine Container Terminals.

摘要

Truck queuing at marine container terminal gates is one of the main sources of delay at terminals and is an area of concern since delays increase the logistical cost of transporting a container. Idling trucks at the gates are also a source of emissions that are harmful to surrounding environments. With the growing focus on global warming and reducing greenhouse gases, increasing importance has been placed on finding alternative strategies for reducing delays at the gates. Previous studies focused on the performance of strategies such as the appointment system and extended gate hours. However, there has yet to be a study that evaluates the performance of pooling trucks into a single queue at the gates. Previous studies on pooling offer mixed opinions on whether or not it is beneficial, but none of these studies have attempted to model the movements of the entities in the queue. In a human system (no vehicles) the movements are not as important since the time to move up one space in the queue is negligible; however, due to the size and weight of the trucks at the gates, the time to move is significant and should be considered. This study used agent based simulation to model the terminal gate system with two different queuing strategies, a pooled queue and non-pooled queues, since analytical solutions are not capable of capturing vehicle movements within the queue. Using a car following model, a realistic representation of how vehicles move within the queue is captured. The developed simulation model was used to evaluate queuing strategies under varying conditions. Results indicate that using a pooled queue yields significantly lower average queuing times and variability in queuing times.