Abstract
To meet increased freight flows through maritime ports, a high level of resource utilisation in hinterland transport is of crucial importance. However, various perspectives on resource utilisation create issues with use of information for operational decisions in port hinterland. The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of information related to resource utilisation for operational planning in port hinterland freight transport to facilitate its improvement. The study is case-based, and the data is collected through semi-structured interviews, visual observations, and company documents. The findings are analysed with a framework built from literature emphasising different resource utilisation perspectives and the use of information in road freight transport chain decisions. The findings show that the use of information on resource utilisation in operational freight transport decisions in the port hinterland transport system is limited and lacks a complete system overview. Instead of the information on measured parameters, different types of estimates of efficiency parameters (including resource utilisation) are commonly used for operational planning decisions. The information about the measured indicators has to be combined with other information to obtain an efficient level of resource utilisation; otherwise, it could generate incorrect assumptions regarding utilisation. The paper contributes to the topic of operational freight transport planning by describing the use of information on resource utilisation.
Highlights
With increasing maritime freight transport, the development in ports and hinterland operations has to be matched
Operational decisions by a logistics service provider were examined from the perspective of using information on resource utilisation
The purpose of this paper was to explore the use of information related to resource utilisation for operational planning in hinterland freight transport in order to facilitate its improvement
Summary
With increasing maritime freight transport, the development in ports and hinterland operations has to be matched. According to Parola et al (2017), the second most important factor driving port competitiveness after port service costs is port hinterland connectivity. Despite its importance, hinterland connectivity, i.e. hinterland operations or capacity of inland modes, is usually one of the main barriers in functional intermodal transport chains, resulting in congestion and other sustainability issues (Behdani et al, 2020; Black et al, 2018). High resource utilisation leads to lower transport costs and at the same time reduces environmental impact (Santén, 2016). The energy efficiency of transport increases as resource utilisation increases, creating further incentives for the actors in the system to improve the load factor (Santén et al, 2018). Actors in the hinterland transport chain are struggling to obtain high resource utilisation (e.g. Behdani et al (2020); Elbert and Walter (2014). A port’s hinterland is not statically determined, but it varies dynamically due to developments in technology, economy, and society; related operational decisions are constantly challenged
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