THE IMPACT OF CONTAINER CARRIER HEAVY GOODS VEHICLES ON ROAD TRANSPORTATION OPERATION, SAFETY, AND LOGISTICS

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of heavy goods vehicles that are carrying intermodal shipping containers on the traffic flow. The objective is to estimate the available capacity for HGVs on the road at every hour to accommodate the increasing demand due to the expansion of Liverpool container terminal. The author has developed a passenger car equivalent estimation method and a road traffic capacity estimation methods by considering the deceleration and acceleration performances of vehicles, and the methods consider the speed, reaction time, braking competency level of the driver, and road safety. The author has developed an average traffic speed prediction method to facilitate the rescheduling and planning of the traffic operation. The proposed prediction method provides higher accuracy than all other speed prediction methods and facilitates highly efficient rescheduling and planning operations. The author has proposed four level of service methods that consider the safety, prevention of accidents by available reaction time, stopping distance, and the risk of pedestrians sustaining severe injuries or death, and they unique method because they measure the level of service not from the prospective of the user but from the prospective the traffic management and local authority. The methods target the individual type of vehicle and drivers’ behaviour and competency level. The results showed that the required time gap to maintain a safe gap between the following vehicle and the leading vehicle ranges from 2.59 to 3.32s for passenger cars and from 2.94 to 4.89s for heavy goods vehicles. The results also showed that the passenger car equivalent for heavy goods vehicles with braking competency level of 100%-50% is 1.32-2.77 that depends on vehicle parameters. The results also showed that the passenger car equivalent for heavy goods vehicles at 64.4km/h with braking competency level of 100%-50% is 1.32-1.65, and 2.41- 2.77 for rigid heavy goods vehicle, and articulated heavy goods vehicles, respectively. The rescheduling results show how that it is possible to meet both of Mersey ports’ targets for Liverpool’s container port by either building an extra lane of an heavy goods vehicle access only two-lane road in parallel to the current road. However, to improve the traffic flow operation and safety, the second choice will be better because it will keep the average traffic speed above the optimum speed of the road at all times.