United States Department of Transportation
i
Quantifying Intermodal Facility Capacity Factor Interactions through Simulation
-
2020-08-29
[PDF-153.38 KB]
Details:
-
Creators:
-
Corporate Creators:
-
Corporate Contributors:
-
Subject/TRT Terms:
-
Publication/ Report Number:
-
Resource Type:
-
Geographical Coverage:
-
Corporate Publisher:
-
Abstract:Intermodal hubs play an important role in the operation of railway networks. Intermodal freight is a primary revenue stream for Class I railroads in the United States. Intermodal traffic volume has increased approximately 10 percent since 2011 and reached new all-time record volumes during the summer of 2017. This growth combined with shifts in traffic patterns and a move from trailers to containers, has strained the capacity of existing intermodal terminals. In response, railroads are expanding their intermodal service capabilities by upgrading existing terminals and building new ones. Although intermodal freight generates substantial revenue, its operating and capital investment requirements are substantial. Under constrained capital budgets, railroads must make informed decisions regarding investments in new intermodal terminals, facility expansion and optimizing the efficiency and capacity of existing facilities. These decisions require a detailed understanding of intermodal facility capacity factors and their interactions, including size and layout of the facilities, and number and type of lift equipment. Currently, intermodal terminal capacity is largely evaluated on the basis of practitioner planning experience and a limited number of independent capacity factors. There is a need for a more thorough understanding of the interaction between fundamental factors that influence intermodal terminal capacity. To meet the goal of better understanding the factors constraining the capacity of domestic intermodal terminals, this research develops a representative intermodal terminal model by creating a series of submodels that accurately capture the entire intermodal terminal process.
-
Format:
-
Funding:
-
Collection(s):
-
Main Document Checksum:
-
Download URL:
-
File Type:
