A robust integrated approach to yard space allocation and crane scheduling in container terminals

Abstract

To minimize the total workload delayed in the terminal yard, an integrated model of yard space allocation and crane scheduling is proposed. To deal with the uncertainty in pick-up process of import containers, a robust optimization model is suggested to simultaneously determine the storage locations of import containers and the routes of yard crane movements. A Lagrange relaxation algorithm and a modified method are proposed. Numerical experiments show that the proposed approach meets the requirement of practical applications.