Estimating Discharge Time of Cargo Units – A Case of Ro-Ro Shipping

Abstract

Ro-Ro shipping is a dominant form of short sea freight transport. Ro-Ro ship operators are today unable to provide customers with precise information about when trailers are available for pick-up by customers on the terminal despite vessel arrival times being well known in due time. This results in reduced truck utilization, longer waiting time for drivers, less efficient yard space utilization, potential terminal congestion and dissatisfied customers. In this paper the cargo unit discharge time estimation problem of Ro-Ro shipping is solved in collaboration with a European short-sea Ro-Ro shipping company. A module-based framework using statistical analysis for estimating the discharge time is proposed and tested. The initial framework is able to estimate the earliest pick-up time of each individual truck or trailer within 1 h accuracy for up to 70% of all cargo. The results of the study show potential for improving performance and accuracy. Further investigation and testing is currently ongoing by the case company based on the results from this study.