Container terminal automation: assessment of drivers and benefits

This study identifies and analyzes the relative importance of the multi-faceted factors that drive the decision to automate container terminals and the realized benefits, thus establishing how accurately terminal operators predicted the benefits of automation. The empirical analysis relies on a survey-based approach and the input of senior representatives of terminal operating entities in charge of the fully and semi-automated container terminals. The analysis of the findings, using statistical tools (i.e., descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis), reveals that most of the benefits assumed by an individual terminal operator materialized once the automated terminal was in operation. It also concludes that expectations often exceed benefits and vice versa. A stepwise regression analysis enables the search of causal relationships between drivers and realized benefits with key characteristics of automated container terminals, such as their organizational features, technical dimensions, and the maritime and urban markets they serve.This article is a revised and expanded version of a paper Container Terminal Automation: Assessment of Drivers and Benefits presented at the International Association of Maritime Economists Annual Conference, Busan, Korea, 2022.