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Intermodal Transportation and Terminal Operations
By Capt. Atuldutt Sharma
Intermodal Transportation
• Includes more than one mode – air, rail, road, water • Typically refers to containerized goods – as opposed to bulk or general cargo – requires containers – less labor than traditional freight handling • The majority of the costs are incurred between modes (in terminals)
Bulk Cargo
Wet bulk cargo refers to fluids like oil Dry bulk cargo refers to non-fluids such as grain, coal, etc..
Many goods that used to be shipped as bulk cargo (grain, bananas, coffee beans) are now shipped in containers (IP grain) Historically well developed commodities
General Cargo
• Whatever needs moving • Flatbed trucks for odd-shapes • General cargo vessels
Intermodal Containers
Primarily International Trade Routes
There are many varieties of containers….
• Standard containers (20’, 40’, 45’ height 8’6’’) • Hard top containers (removable steel roof) • Open top containers • Flat racks • Domestic containers (53’) • Refrigerated containers (require clear space) • Tank containers • High cube container (9’6’’ tall) • One 20’ container is a Twenty foot Equivalent Unit (TEU)
Marine Terminal Actors
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Steamship lines (Maersk, CMA CGM, MOL, etc) Terminal Operators (APM, DP World, PSA, etc) Port Authorities (JNPT) County Governments (Ministry of Shipping and Surface transport) Security agencies (CISF) Drayage drivers and Licensed Motor Carriers Importers or Shippers Freight forwarders and expeditors NVOCC’s (SARJAK) 3PLs or Logistics providers Customs brokers CBP Labor Unions Interest Groups EPA Railroads (CONCOR, Gateway Rail, etc) Own objectives and remuneration or incentive schemes
Terminal
• A station where freight is received or discharged • Situated at the end • Placed at a boundary • A point or part that forms the end • From terminus (end) • The name reflects their historic role • In the intermodal world we usually refer to intermodal yards rather than terminals
Terminals or interchanges occur in all modes
• Airports • Bus terminals • Marine terminal or port • Ferry terminal • Train station • Rail yard or terminal • Cross-dock facility • Distribution center • Intermodal yard • They have common characteristics, I’ll focus today on marine ports and intermodal yards
Characteristics of Freight Terminals
Infrastructure Modal access (dock, siding, road), unloading areas Equipment Intermodal lifting equipment, storing equipment
Core
Storage Management
Ancillary
Trade facilitation Distribution centers Storage depot Container services Yard for empty and loaded containers Administration, maintenance, access (gates), information systems Free trade zone, logistical services Transloading, cross-docking, warehousing, temperature controlled (cold chain) Container depot, bulk storage Washing, preparation, repair
Container Handling
Cause Consolidation Outcome Transferring the contents of smaller containers into larger containers (e.g. three maritime 40 foot containers into two 53 foot domestic containers). Cost savings (number of lifts). Time delays.
Weight compliance Palletizing Transferring the contents of heavy containers into loads meeting national or regional road weight limits.
Placing loose (floor loaded) containerized cargo unto pallets. Adapting to local load units (e.g. europallet).
Demurrage Handing back containers to owner (maritime shipping or leasing company) by transferring its contents into another load unit (e.g. domestic container).
Equipment availability Making maritime containers available for exports and domestic containers available for imports. Trade facilitation.
Supply chain management Terminal and transloading facility as a buffer. Delay decision to route freight to better fulfill regional demands. Perform some added value activities (packaging, labeling, final assembly, etc.)
Shipping Lines and Importers have different goals for container management
Advantages Disadvantages Importers Reduction of unit transport costs (three maritime 40 footer containers into two domestic 53 footers).
Added-value activities (sorting, packing, labeling, etc.).
Routing flexibility through postponement. Transloading costs.
Loss of at least one day of inland transit time.
Possible shortage of domestic containers.
Not all cargo suitable.
Reconciling different container loads (additional delays).
Risk of damage or theft of cargo during transloading.
Maritime shipping Limit repositioning of empty containers.
Higher asset utilization (faster container turnover).
Risk of container damage.
Less equipment available inland for exports.
Port Operations
Vessel Quay Crane Chassis Local Storage Gate
Discharging container flow Loading container flow
Terminal Layout
Terminal Layout
Rail Yard & Rail Siding
Port productivity metrics
• TEUs per hectare • TEUs per annum • Dwell time • Terminal time • Crane productivity – Crane cycle time – Lifts per hour – Moves per hour
Operational Improvements
• Technology implementations – RFID, GPS, OCR, automation • Land area utilization (stacking) – Rail mounted gantry cranes • Extended gate hours • Truck appointment systems • Crane Utilization – Double cycling • Increase Intermodal Percentage – containers typically have shorter dwell times
Productivity Improvements
• As is true across the board in transportation, infrastructure is expensive to build, or impossible to build • Solutions must be found to manage demand and utilize infrastructure better • There is evidence our ports are “unproductive” and that we can expect better utilization of the infrastructure
Terminal Operating Sytem (TOS)
• All modern container terminals today use Terminal Operating Systems (TOS).
• These systems enable terminal staff to track, trace, plan container movements effectively.
• There are various service providers who provide such softwares and system.
• With growing volumes being handled by terminals use of such systems has now become absolutely necessary.
Average crane productivity at different container ports
Typical View of Quay Crane (Gantry)
Rubber Tyre Gantry Cranes (RTGC)
Reach Stacker
Forklift
Normal Container trailer
Low bed trailers
Cargo on Low bed trailers
Vessel Layout
Stowage& Stacks
Cell guides inside holds
Lashing Bridges
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Definitions :
Stowage Planning
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Profile
– is the cross sectional view of the entire ship covering both the deck and under-deck of the ship..
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Bayplan
– is the complete cross sectional view of the entire ship covering both the deck and under-deck of the ship, but displayed or printed per bay •
Bay
– each container vessel is split into compartments which are termed as Bay and depending on the size of the ship it will proceed from 01 to 40 (for example) where Bay 01 is the bay towards the Bow (the front) of the ship and Bay 40 is the Stern (the back) of the ship.. Odd numbered bays (1,3,5 etc ) means that it is a 20’ stow and Even numbered bay (2,4,6 etc ) means that it is a 40’ stow..
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Row
is the position where the container is placed across the width of the ship.. If you refer to the above diagram, the Row numbers are circled in Red.. It starts with 01 in the centre and progresses outwards with odd numbers on the right and even numbers on the left..
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Tier
denotes at which level the container is placed – basically how high the container is stacked on board.. In the above diagram, the Tier numbers are circled in Blue..
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Hatch Covers
(the dark intermittent lines in the above picture) are the covers that separate the deck from the under-deck.. The area above the line is called the deck (which is generally visible to us when we look at the ship) and the area below the line is called under-deck (which is not visible to us from outside the ship)..
• The planning is mainly done on a document called a “profile” which can be viewed here.. The profile provides the full cross section of a ship at one glance.. The enlarged version of this will be the actual bay itself.. Currently, the stowage planning is mostly done via computers..
Typical Stowage Plan
Basics of Stowage Plan
• All vessels come in and out of port based on windows.
• Windows are decided basis berthing schedules agreed move counts on the service.
• Average moves/hr for each crane and total number of cranes to be allotted per vessel are decided basis window schedules.
• For example: • Export Moves: 1200 • Import Moves: 800 • Total Moves: 2000.
• Avg moves/hr/crane – 30 per crane.
• Total cranes available – 3 • So max window available as per below Total moves (2000) ---------------------------------------------- = 22.22hrs + berth/unberth = 25hrs Avg moves (30) x no of cranes (3)
Distribution of Cargo on vessel
• As evident from the calculation earlier the window time available to vessel’s is very tight vis a vis crane move count and number of cranes used.
• Thus the planner needs to distribute the cargo moves on the vessel in such a manner so as to have all cranes working all the time through out the vessel’s stay in port.
• Idling of any one crane will seriously impact the working of the vessel.
• This will lead to vessel having to sail without completing her moves which in turn leads to cargo accumulating in the terminal and subsequent delays to the vessel.
• Taking into account this very important factor planner plan the cargo spread on the vessel so as to have maximum efficiency whilst vessel is in port.
Out of Guage containers Stowage
• Out of gauge containers are usually stowed underdeck and in case of an On Deck Stow, careful consideration will be required. Local planner or agent may be requested for such approval prior loading.
Hatch cover clearance and Cell guide clearance must be verified to confirm that there will be no damage to the vessel or cargo when loaded. Appropriate number of slots must be kept vacant to accommodate the OOG cargo as necessary.
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Break bulk Operations
Handling Breakbulk,out of gauge (OOG) and Open containers
Break bulk cargo is usually stowed on flat racks and platforms. It is important to confirm that the break bulk cargo itself is properly secured onto the Flat rack or Platform prior loading on board. If additional lashing or tightening of existing lashing is required, this must be done by terminal staff to the vessels satisfaction.
If not, vessel operator shall be advised of situation and in any case such shipment posing serious danger to vessels safety shall not be accepted for carriage.
• Prior loading out of gauge cargo, hatch cover clearance and cell guide clearance must be verified to confirm that there will be no contact or damage to the vessel or cargo when loaded. Close monitoring during loading will also be required as sometimes protrusion dimensions provided may not be accurate. Loading Out of gauge units will likely involve use of special equipment attached to gantry cranes.
Examples of Breakbulk cargo
Types of Special gears for handling BB cargo Special gears for handling
Extra OOG’s handled ex NSA
Extra OOG’s handled ex NSA
Extra OOG’s handled ex NSA
48mt Piece BB handling at PSA, Singapore