A non-stationary queuing approach and genetic algorithm for the optimisation of truck appointment system in a container terminal in Casablanca City

Abstract

Due to the increasing container traffic, many terminals face a considerable number of truck arrivals. This situation leads to congestion problems at the gates and generates serious air pollution while decreasing terminal efficiency. To consider this issue, many terminals use a truck appointment system. However, the latter should take, necessarily, into account the terminal's local conditions to ensure a satisfying performance. In the present work, one proposes an appointment model to control truck arrivals in one of the busiest terminals in Morocco. The model is based on an improvement of the approximation approach related to the queue length estimation. The treatment adopts a genetic algorithm with a novel testing scenarios highlighting more the solution performances by crossing several basic existing scenarios. Then, some numerical experiments are conducted based on literature works data to calibrate the model and ensure its accuracy. Finally, the best configuration was approved for the local terminal.