Abstract
Globalization and decentralization of production generate the intensive growth of goods and transport flows, mostly performed by the maritime transport. Ports, as the main nodes in the global logistics networks, are becoming congested, space for their expansion limited, and traffic in their hinterland congested. As a solution to these and many other hinterland-transport-related problems stands out the development of dry port (DP) terminals. Selection of their location is one of the most important strategic decisions on which depends their competitiveness in the market and the functionality of the logistics network. Accordingly, the evaluation and selection of locations for the development of the DP in accordance with the requirements of various stakeholders is performed in this paper, as a prerequisite for the establishment of an ecological, economic, and socially sustainable logistics network in the observed area. To solve this problem, a new hybrid model of multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) that combines Delphi, AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process), and CODAS (Combinative Distance-based Assessment) methods in a grey environment is developed. The main contributions of this paper are the defined model, the problem-solving approach based on finding a compromise solution, simultaneous consideration of the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of the DP concept and its implementation in the regional international markets. The applicability of the approach and the defined MCDM model is demonstrated by solving a real-life case study of ranking the potential DP locations in the Western Balkans region. Based on the obtained results, it is concluded that in the current market conditions, it would be most realistic to open three DP terminals, in Zagreb, Ljubljana, and Belgrade.
Highlights
Trends in the global economy, implying decentralized production and a significant increase in the flow of goods around the world, generate major problems and challenges for the logistics sector [1]
One of the few studies in which the views of different stakeholders were considered when locating the dry port (DP) terminals is the work of Nguyen and Notteboom [11], but even they did not obtain the location as a compromise solution but by aggregating the results of the independent potential location rankings by each stakeholder. This is another research gap that this paper covers, since the final ranking of the potential DP locations is obtained as a compromise solution that integrates the requirements of all stakeholders
The paper proposes a new hybrid multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model based on a combination of Delphi, AHP, and CODAS methods in a grey environment to solve the defined problem
Summary
Trends in the global economy, implying decentralized production and a significant increase in the flow of goods around the world, generate major problems and challenges for the logistics sector [1]. As a sustainable solution to all these problems, in environmental, and economic and social terms, the use of dry port (DP) terminals is advocated by researchers. The main purpose of this research is to develop a new hybrid MCDM model, combining the Delphi, AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process), and CODAS (Combinative Distance-based Assessment) methods in a grey environment, for the location of the DP terminal as a way to achieve economic, environmental, and social sustainability of the logistics system. An approach to solving this location problem, based on reaching the compromise solution and including the various aspects of the sustainable development, the new hybrid model, and its application in a case study covering the regional international market, is the main contribution of this paper. The last section provides concluding remarks and future research directions
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