Although empty containers can be a great asset to a shipping company if they are strategically positioned, their transportation, handling, and storage represent considerable burdens that impact the company's profits. Trade imbalances between the U.S. and other regions of the world, especially Asian countries, have worsened the situation, and the intermodal coordination of empty containers has become a very challenging issue for shipping lines. The topic represents a very complex logistics problem with practical applications. The analysis focuses on one of the top seven shipping companies globally that is particularly strong on the transpacific trade market. The main goal was to model the operations of the company and introduce new strategies to reposition empty containers more efficiently. The concept of rail terminals should be implemented to provide economies of scale to reduce costs. Ports on the East Coast, which are currently not utilized to transport empty containers back to Asia, also played a role in the strategies considered in this study. The results indicated that the proposed repositioning plan would provide significant cost savings. Further sensitivity analysis is necessary for assessing the performance of the plan. Other complementary strategies, such as the use of a dedicated fleet of trucks to handle local transportation, could be introduced, and the cost-benefit should be compared for practical implications, as well as to improve the proposed model.
Repositioning of Empty Containers in the Transpacific Market: A Case Study
Ninth International Conference of Chinese Transportation Professionals (ICCTP) ; 2009 ; Harbin, China
ICCTP 2009 ; 1-14
2009-07-23
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
Repositioning of Empty Containers in the Transpacific Market: A Case Study
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2009
|Regional Repositioning of Empty Containers
Transportation Research Record | 2008
|Regional Repositioning of Empty Containers: Case for Inland Depots
Online Contents | 2008
|Foldable and standard containers in empty container repositioning
Online Contents | 2013
|Springer Verlag | 2014
|