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ECT is expanding its operations at the Maasvlakte considerably. Consequently there will be an increased need for Inter Terminal Transport (ITT). Presently this is executed by means of Multi Trailer Systems (MTS). This is a system which uses a truck that pulls a train consisting of five trailers, each with a capacity of 2 TEU. The problem is however, whether this system is capable and efficient enough to take care of the large streams foreseen in 2005 or whether other systems using Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV's) or even another system which is called "ITL" will be more cost-efficent. To this end a lay out design study using simulation was done by TRAIL.
In this contribution we present a method used for planning of the ITT using the Multi Trailer System.This method makes use of the information of the system that is available at a given moment in time during the simulation. This information consists of the containers to be transported with their time-windows, the number of trucks available at each location and the number of MTS's available at each location, and the (un)loading capacity at each terminal during time. We show how planning can reduce the waiting time for MTS's at the terminal and the total number of "empty" rides for both FTF's and MTS's.
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