Severe congestion in container yards can wreak havoc on port terminal operations and subsequent stages of the supply chain. Disarray opens the door for excess container movements, and inefficient use of container handlers can in turn lead to longer queues and waiting times for inbound ships and outbound lorries alike.
But as supply chains adapt to ongoing disruption in the wake of the pandemic and container volumes continue to reach record-breaking levels, the threat of logjams is only intensifying. Add to that the global imbalance in the geographic distribution of shipping containers that has produced gluts of empty containers at some ports and shortages at others, and charting a course for efficient container management comes against a backdrop of uncertainty.
Under these conditions, port terminal operations face pressure to squeeze the most efficiency possible out of their container handling operations, while
lowering the cost per container moved.
This paper examines how double container handling can enable process and storage strategies that increase productivity and capacity, and ultimately boost throughput by up to 30%.
