Inter-terminal transport with uncertain connections

This thesis is about controlling the transport of ITT containers. The way of transporting ITT containers that is analyzed in this thesis is the asset-light solution. The asset-light solution assumes that residual capacity of visiting trucks can be used to transport some of these ITT containers. The usage of the residual capacity of visiting trucks results in uncertain connections, because it is not always sure when and where visiting trucks have residual capacity. In addition to these visiting trucks, fixed trucks are needed to ensure that all containers are delivered on time. In this thesis we have looked at the transport of ITT containers for the Maasvlakte 2, a part of the Port of Rotterdam. A simulation model is used to determine the number of fixed trucks that is needed. The simulation is run without some fixed trips and with the fixed trips. In this way, the fixed trips represent the uncertain connections. The results of these simulations are compared for several variants of fixed trips. We concluded for the problem of the Maasvlakte that when using not too much different uncertain connections, the amount of extra trucks needed is almost equal for both cases (with and without the uncertain connections).