IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/marecl/v15y2013i4p467-493.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimizing empty container logistics based on a collaborative network approach

Author

Listed:
  • Nina Vojdani

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering and Marine Technology, University of Rostock, Richard-Wagner-Str. 31, 18119 Rostock, Germany.)

  • Felix Lootz

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering and Marine Technology, University of Rostock, Richard-Wagner-Str. 31, 18119 Rostock, Germany.)

  • René Rösner

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering and Marine Technology, University of Rostock, Richard-Wagner-Str. 31, 18119 Rostock, Germany.)

Abstract

Current global production patterns have led to the emergence of systemic, chronic and structural trade imbalances between major trading regions. Increasing transportation led to a growth in the amount of full containers and subsequently to preceding and ensuing empty container movements. Empty container management is substantial to overcome the complex problem of empty container repositioning, storage and ownership conditions. Because of growing cost pressures and the continuous search for efficiency improvements, collaborative design approaches in the empty container management are becoming increasingly important. One approach is the joint use of containers by several container carriers and container leasing companies. Therefore, the aim of this article is to introduce a mathematical optimization approach, which optimizes container logistics networks and quantifies potential savings considering the establishment and operation of container pooling. It will be shown that positive economic effects can be generated by the implementation of container pooling, compared with non-cooperative behavior of container owners and leasing companies. In addition, port operators will be able to handle rising container volumes without major capacity adjustments. Further studies need to focus on practical implications of container pooling models and empirical evidence of the mathematical approach.

Suggested Citation

  • Nina Vojdani & Felix Lootz & René Rösner, 2013. "Optimizing empty container logistics based on a collaborative network approach," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 15(4), pages 467-493, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:pal:marecl:v:15:y:2013:i:4:p:467-493
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/mel/journal/v15/n4/pdf/mel201316a.pdf
    File Function: Link to full text PDF
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/mel/journal/v15/n4/full/mel201316a.html
    File Function: Link to full text HTML
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mark Ching-Pong Poo & Tsz Leung Yip, 2019. "An optimization model for container inventory management," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 273(1), pages 433-453, February.
    2. Behzad Behdani & Bart Wiegmans & Violeta Roso & Hercules Haralambides, 2020. "Port-hinterland transport and logistics: emerging trends and frontier research," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 22(1), pages 1-25, March.
    3. Alaa Abdelshafie & May Salah & Tomaž Kramberger & Dejan Dragan, 2022. "Repositioning and Optimal Re-Allocation of Empty Containers: A Review of Methods, Models, and Applications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-23, May.
    4. Numa-Navarro, Ian & Wilmsmeier, Gordon & Gil, Cristiam, 2023. "Improving empty container management using street-turn: A case study of the Colombian logistics network," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    5. Sarmadi, Kamran & Amiri-Aref, Mehdi & Dong, Jing-Xin & Hicks, Christian, 2020. "Integrated strategic and operational planning of dry port container networks in a stochastic environment," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 132-164.
    6. Alejandra Gómez-Padilla & Rosa G. González-Ramírez & Fernando Alarcón & Stefan Voß, 2021. "An option contract model for leasing containers in the shipping industry," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 23(2), pages 328-347, June.
    7. Kolar, Petr & Schramm, Hans-Joachim & Prockl, Günter, 2018. "Intermodal transport and repositioning of empty containers in Central and Eastern Europe hinterland," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 73-82.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:marecl:v:15:y:2013:i:4:p:467-493. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.