Lured by the promise of bigger sales, companies are increasingly looking to raise the volume of international trade. Consequently, the amount of bulk products carried in containers and transported overseas exploded because of the flexibility and reliability of this type of transportation. However, minimizing the logistics costs arising from the container flow management across different terminals has emerged asa major problem that companies and affiliated third-party logistics firms face routinely. The empty tankcontainer allocation problem occurs in the context of intermodal distribution systems management and transportation operations carried out by logistic service provider companies. This paper considers the time-evolving supply chain system of an international logistic service provider company that transports bulk products loaded in tank containers via road, rail and sea. In such system, unbalanced movements of loaded tank containers forces the company to reposition empty tank containers. The purpose of this paper is to develop a mathematical model that supports tactical decisions for flow management of empty tank containers. The problem involves dispatching empty tank containers of various types to the meet on-time delivery requirements and repositioning the other tank containers to storage facilities, depots and cleaning stations. To this aim, a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) multiperiod optimization model is developed. The model is analyzed and developed step by step, and its functionality is demonstrated by conducting experiments on the network from our case study problem, within the boarders of Europe. The case study constitutes three different scenarios of empty tank container allocation. The computational experiments show that the model finds good quality solutions, and demonstrate that cost and modality improvements can be achieved in the network The sensitivity analysis employs a set of data from our case study and randomly selected data to highlight certain features of the model and provide some insights regarding the model’s behavior.

The focus of this research is in the area of Remote Condition Monitoring (RCM) for use within intermodal transport and logistics industries. For many years the intermodal transport industry has utilised these RCM systems that have in built flaws due to the subsystems they use.

The diploma thesis characterizes intermodal transport and individual systems which it uses. It also desribes the current development of transport and its individual sectors. The diploma thesis also outlines the issue of external economic relations and foreign trade between China and the Czech republic. I picked up and characterized the representatives of shipping carriers and intermodal carriers. In the last part of the thesis I described the specific case of import of three containers from a Chinese shipper to a Czech consignee.

Med en större befolkning som nu bor i urbaniserade områden, upplever fler städerpåfrestningar på sin logistik inom städer, eftersom transportvolymen har satt ett ökat tryck påsåväl lokala som globala miljöer.Som en lösning på dessa problem har många städer, både i Sverige och utomlands, börjatetablera industriområden dedikerade till logistik, som fungerar som nav för att stödjafraktföretag som arbetar med urban godsdistribution. Gävle kommun har förbundit sig attbygga ett nytt logistikcentrum och i denna avhandling ska man studera vilka teoretiskametoder städer kan använda när de etablerar logistikcentra och hur kommunens planer står sigi jämförelse med litteraturen.En teoretiskt referensram utformades för att identifiera hur effektiva logistikcentra ärorganiserade och vilka faktorer som förbättrar deras effektivitet. Gävle kommuns planerstuderades och jämfördes med det teoretiska ramverket via en SWOT-analys, och en modellbyggdes upp för att identifiera nyckelfaktorer för framgång vid etablering av logistikcenter.Resultaten visade att det finns 8 nyckelfaktorer som bidrar till framgången för hållbaralogistikcentra, vilka är lokalisering, grundläggande funktioner, intramodalitet, kapacitet,interaktion med intressenter och hänsyn till ekonomiska, sociala och miljömässiga perspektivinom hållbar utveckling.Studien visade att Gävle kommuns planer överensstämmer med bästa praxis ochimplementerar de viktigaste framgångsfaktorerna för hållbara logistikcentra, med godlokalisering och kapacitet, planer för implementering av basfunktioner och intermodalitetsamt att hänsyn till intressenternas intressen har tagits. Ekonomiska, sociala och miljömässigaperspektiv beaktas. Studien identifierade också flera riskfaktorer inom planerna, såsom denoklara tidsplanen för etablering, motstånd från vissa grupper av intressenter och bristen pågodkännande och finansiering för omlokaliseringen av godsbangården. Studiens teoretiskabidrag är skapandet av en modell som visar viktiga framgångsfaktorer för hållbaralogistikcentra, som kan användas som ett praktiskt verktyg för utveckling av nya hållbaralogistikcentra.

Hållbarhet har blivit ett aktuellt ämne inom de flesta verksamheter och strävan är erhålla en ekonomisk vinning utan att äventyra naturresurser, människan och samhället. Verksamheters förmåga att distribuera gods säkert, snabbt och kostnadseffektivt är avgörande för internationell och inrikes handel och ekonomisk utveckling. Godstransporter är en stor källa till utsläpp av växthusgaser och därför är det viktigt att nya transportlösningar hittas för att minska de avtryck som godstransporter gör i en försörjningskedja. Användningen av så kallade högkapacitetsfordon, HCT-fordon, förväntas öka då möjligheten att köra lastbilar som överskrider EU:s dimensioner för längd, bredd och vikt kan medföra ökad effektivitet och reducerad miljöpåverkan. Även konceptet torrhamnar, det vill säga en anläggning med en terminal som drivs likt en hamn, kan användas för att konsolidera gods, avlasta hamnen och öka intermodaliteten hos godset. Intermodalitet innebär att godset fraktas från A till B med hjälp av en kombination av flera olika typer av fraktsätt, exempelvis sjö, tåg och lastbil.   Följande rapport kartlägger hur en samverkan mellan högkapacitetsfordon och torrhamnar skulle kunna se ut. Detta genomförs med hjälp av att utifrån hållbarhetsmodellen triple bottom line som avser de tre dimensionerna ekonomi-, miljö- och sociala effekter, identifiera styrkor och svagheter hos begreppen. Med hjälp en teoretisk litteraturstudie, en fallstudie av ETT-projektet, en observation av Skaraborg Logistics Center samt nio stycken intervjuer med experter inom området, analyseras effekterna av en samverkan mellan högkapacitetsfordon och torrhamnar.   Rapporten identifierar att bättre ekonomiska-, miljömässiga och sociala effekter nås om en torrhamn är kopplad till ursprungshamnen med järnväg snarare än med HCT-fordon. Ytterligare identifierad problematik där en torrhamn försörjs med HCT-fordon utgörs av de tillfälliga tillstånden för att få framföra de längre och tyngre lastbärarna. Analysen visar att för att uppnå en god effekt från en samverkan mellan HCT-fordon och torrhamnar krävs att varje begrepp ensamt uppnår de faktorer som krävs för god effekt.   Rapporten är avgränsad till att räkna allt gods som normalt gods, endast avse HCTtransporter på väg samt att förutsätta att svenska arbetsregler följs vid inrikes transporter på väg. Rapporten studerar inte detaljer kring potentiell utveckling inom tekniken, exempelvis säkerhetssystem, IT-system eller aerodynamik. / Sustainability has become a highly prioritized subject among most companies and the goal is to maintain financial value without jeopardizing nature's resources, neither human health nor the society. How safe, fast and cost efficient a company distribute their goods is crucial for international- and domestic trade as well as economic growth. Haulage is a great source of greenhouse gas emissions and therefore it is crucial that new solutions of transport are developed in order to reduce the negative footprint of haulage in a supply chain. The use of high capacity transporting (HCT) vehicles is assumed increase when the EU's dimensions for a truck’s length, width and weight are allowed. This exception from EN standards would lead to increased transport efficiency, economic efficiency and reduced impact on the environment. The logistical solution of dry ports, namely a port on inland, can be used to consolidate goods, unburden the port and increase intermodality within the goods. Intermodality is when goods is transported between its starting location to its end location using several different kinds of transport ways.  The following report maps how a synergy between high capacity vehicles and dry ports would look like. By using the triple bottom line sustainability model the report identifies strengths and weaknesses of the two concepts. The reports analysis is created from a theoretical literature study, a case study of the ETT project, an observation of Skaraborg Logistics Center and nine interviews with experts within the field. The report identifies that better economic, environmental and social effects are achieved if a dry port is connected to the port of origin by rail way rather than with HCT vehicles. Further identified problems is the temporary permit of conveying the longer and heavier vehicles. The analysis shows that in order to achieve a good effect from an interaction between HCT vehicles and dry ports, each term alone require that the necessary factors for good effect is fulfilled.  The reports limitations are to consider all goods being normal gods and only to consider HCT-vehicles, not HCT-haulage by rail way. The writers also make the assumption that Swedish rules of labor are applied on domestic transportations by road. The report does not study details within IT, security systems nor aerodynamic.

Comércio e indústria, atualmente, respondem por parcela significativa do produto interno bruto (PIB) do Brasil e juntos demandam significativa quantidade de transporte de carga, principalmente do tipo fracionada, fato que, nos últimos anos provocou o crescimento do transporte desse tipo de carga. O elevado crescimento industrial, em 2004 e 2005, nos principais estados da região norte do país, Amazonas e Pará, indicam o aumento potencial da demanda por transporte de carga fracionada entre o norte e o sudeste, que concentra o maior mercado consumidor. As grandes distâncias, entre o norte e o sudeste, fazem o custo de transporte ter grande impacto significativo no preço final das mercadorias. Esse fato levou à procura por opções de transporte de menor custo, para tornar os produtos fabricados na região norte mais competitivos no mercado interno. Atualmente, existe predominância do transporte rodoviário no corredor norte-sudeste, o que desperdiça, por hipótese, o potencial de outros modos de transporte, como cabotagem, transporte fluvial e, futuramente, transporte ferroviário (Ferrovia Norte-Sul e Ferronorte). Isso motivou o desenvolvimento desta pesquisa, que tem como objetivo avaliar opções de transporte intermodal, econômica e operacionalmente mais atraentes que as praticadas hoje no transporte de carga geral fracionada (produtos e insumos industrializados) em conexões com a região amazônica. A metodologia empregada no trabalho utilizou: (1) técnica de construção de cenários; (2) modelos de custo de transporte para os modos rodoviário, ferroviário, marítimo e fluvial; e (3) sistema de informação geográfica. Os resultados obtidos nesta tese indicam que opções de rotas rodo-marítimas e rodo-fluviais apresentam significativas reduções no custo total de transporte com relação às rotas preferenciais, hoje, praticadas para as ligações entre Belém-São Paulo e Manaus-São Paulo. Os resultados mostram, também, não haver perspectivas para o transporte rodo-ferroviário e rodo-fluvial-ferroviário nessas ligações, uma vez que, neste caso, o custo obtido é maior que os das rotas hoje praticadas. / Nowadays, business and industry are responsible for a significant portion of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in Brazil, and together they require a considerable amount of freight transport, mainly break-bulk cargo which has stimulated the transport growth of this kind of cargo. The enormous industrial growth in the most important states of the northern region of the country in the years 2004 and 2005 indicate the potential increase of break-bulk cargo transport between the north and the southeast, area that concentrates the strongest consumer market in the country. Due to the long distance between the country\'s north and southeastern regions, the cost of transport increases the final cost of the goods. This fact led to the search for lower cost transport options in order to make the products of that region more competitive in the domestic market. Currently there has been predominance of road transport in the north/southeast corridor wasting, hypothetically, the potential of other means of transport such as cabotage, river, and, in the future, railroad transport (Norte-Sul and Ferronorte railways). All of this brought about the development of this research which aims at evaluating the intermodal transport options that are economically and operationally more attractive than the break-bulk cargo transport (industrial input and products) used today in the connections with the amazon region. The methodology involves: (1) scenario building; (2) transport cost models for the road, railroad, and marine means; and (3) geographic information system. The results demonstrate that the route options road-marine and road-river show substantial reduction in the transport total cost when compared to the most popular routes used between Belém-São Paulo and Manaus-São Paulo. The results also reveal that there is no perspective of the use of road-rail and road-river-rail transport in such connections since the cost is higher than in the routes used nowadays.

The thesis is based in analysis of the current problematic situation in the freight transport, considering intermodal transportation as one of the possible solutions. The thesis identifies the characteristics crucial for intermodal transportation from this point of view. In the application part the thesis contains evaluation of a project that aims to develop a new type of intermodal transport unit named TelliBox.

O etanol, produto proveniente da indústria sucroalcooleira, um dos setores mais importantes da economia brasileira, atrai a atenção dos países desenvolvidos. O aumento de sua demanda em todo o mundo, motivado por razões econômicas e ambientais, impulsiona sua exportação. O volume exportado passou de 750 milhões de litros em 2003 para 3,5 bilhões de litros em 2006 e os produtores estimam que em cinco anos este volume alcance 6,5 bilhões de litros. Diante da perspectiva de acréscimo nas exportações, e do fato de quase 90% da produção brasileira concentra-se no Centro-Sul, esta dissertação tem por objetivo analisar as alternativas de transporte de etanol para exportação no médio prazo, baseado no plano de investimentos proposto pelo projeto do corredor de exportação de etanol da Transpetro, um dos investimentos propostos para melhorar a eficiência logística do transporte de etanol. Tais investimentos pretendem atender a demanda instalada pelo mercado internacional de forma satisfatória, garantindo o suprimento do combustível e prevenindo o surgimento de gargalos logísticos motivados por falta de infra-estrutura suficiente para o escoamento da produção. Foram avaliadas três alternativas de transporte que representam a movimentação de etanol das unidades produtoras aos portos: alternativa rodoviária, alternativa rodo-dutoviária, e alternativa rodo-hidro-dutoviária. Definidas as alternativas, foram identificadas as trinta principais zonas produtoras de etanol e analisadas as alternativas específicas para cada uma. Assim, foi possível identificar as principais vantagens competitivas das alternativas de transporte por região produtora e verificar os ganhos derivados do transporte por dutos e pela hidrovia no escoamento da produção de etanol até os principais portos. / Ethanol, a product originated from the sugarcane and ethanol industry, one of the most important sectors in the brazilian economy is attracting the interest of the developed countries. The exportation of ethanol is stimulated by the increasing worldwide demand driven by economic and environmental reasons. The exported volume increased from more than 750 million liters in 2003 to 3.5 billion liters in 2006 and, in the next five years, the brazilian producers expect that this volume will reach 6.5 billion liters. Because of this expectation in increasing exportations of ethanol, and being aware that the center-south region of Brazil produces almost 90% of the brazilian ethanol, the objective of this dissertation is to analyze the alternatives of transportation of ethanol for exportation in the medium term. This study is based in the Transpetro´s corridor of ethanol exportation investment plan, which is one of the proposed investments to increase the logistic efficiency of the transportation of ethanol. These investments intend to satisfactorily fulfill the demand of the international market, guaranteeing the supply of ethanol and preventing the appearance of logistic gaps due to lacks of infra-structure for transporting the product. Three alternatives of transportation were evaluated, representing the transportation of ethanol from the manufacturing units to the ports: roadway alternative, road-pipeline alternative and road-waterway-pipeline alternative. After the definition of these alternatives, the thirty major manufacturing zones of ethanol were defined and each zone had these alternatives analyzed. As a result, the major competitive advantages of the transportation alternatives by zone were identified. Also, the potential gains of transporting ethanol to the major seaports by pipelines and waterways were evaluated.

Comércio e indústria, atualmente, respondem por parcela significativa do produto interno bruto (PIB) do Brasil e juntos demandam significativa quantidade de transporte de carga, principalmente do tipo fracionada, fato que, nos últimos anos provocou o crescimento do transporte desse tipo de carga. O elevado crescimento industrial, em 2004 e 2005, nos principais estados da região norte do país, Amazonas e Pará, indicam o aumento potencial da demanda por transporte de carga fracionada entre o norte e o sudeste, que concentra o maior mercado consumidor. As grandes distâncias, entre o norte e o sudeste, fazem o custo de transporte ter grande impacto significativo no preço final das mercadorias. Esse fato levou à procura por opções de transporte de menor custo, para tornar os produtos fabricados na região norte mais competitivos no mercado interno. Atualmente, existe predominância do transporte rodoviário no corredor norte-sudeste, o que desperdiça, por hipótese, o potencial de outros modos de transporte, como cabotagem, transporte fluvial e, futuramente, transporte ferroviário (Ferrovia Norte-Sul e Ferronorte). Isso motivou o desenvolvimento desta pesquisa, que tem como objetivo avaliar opções de transporte intermodal, econômica e operacionalmente mais atraentes que as praticadas hoje no transporte de carga geral fracionada (produtos e insumos industrializados) em conexões com a região amazônica. A metodologia empregada no trabalho utilizou: (1) técnica de construção de cenários; (2) modelos de custo de transporte para os modos rodoviário, ferroviário, marítimo e fluvial; e (3) sistema de informação geográfica. Os resultados obtidos nesta tese indicam que opções de rotas rodo-marítimas e rodo-fluviais apresentam significativas reduções no custo total de transporte com relação às rotas preferenciais, hoje, praticadas para as ligações entre Belém-São Paulo e Manaus-São Paulo. Os resultados mostram, também, não haver perspectivas para o transporte rodo-ferroviário e rodo-fluvial-ferroviário nessas ligações, uma vez que, neste caso, o custo obtido é maior que os das rotas hoje praticadas. / Nowadays, business and industry are responsible for a significant portion of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in Brazil, and together they require a considerable amount of freight transport, mainly break-bulk cargo which has stimulated the transport growth of this kind of cargo. The enormous industrial growth in the most important states of the northern region of the country in the years 2004 and 2005 indicate the potential increase of break-bulk cargo transport between the north and the southeast, area that concentrates the strongest consumer market in the country. Due to the long distance between the country\'s north and southeastern regions, the cost of transport increases the final cost of the goods. This fact led to the search for lower cost transport options in order to make the products of that region more competitive in the domestic market. Currently there has been predominance of road transport in the north/southeast corridor wasting, hypothetically, the potential of other means of transport such as cabotage, river, and, in the future, railroad transport (Norte-Sul and Ferronorte railways). All of this brought about the development of this research which aims at evaluating the intermodal transport options that are economically and operationally more attractive than the break-bulk cargo transport (industrial input and products) used today in the connections with the amazon region. The methodology involves: (1) scenario building; (2) transport cost models for the road, railroad, and marine means; and (3) geographic information system. The results demonstrate that the route options road-marine and road-river show substantial reduction in the transport total cost when compared to the most popular routes used between Belém-São Paulo and Manaus-São Paulo. The results also reveal that there is no perspective of the use of road-rail and road-river-rail transport in such connections since the cost is higher than in the routes used nowadays.

This study aims to model a regional rail based intermodal transport system and to examine the feasibility of it through a case study for a shipper of daily consumables distributing in an urban area and to evaluate it regarding cost and emissions. The idea of an intermodal line train is that of making intermediate stops along the route thus enabling the coverage of a larger market area than conventional intermodal services, hence reducing the high cost associated with feeder transports, the congestion on the road network and generated externalities. The results of the case study indicate that the most critical parameters for the feasibility of such a system are the loading space utilization of the train and the cost for terminal handling. / <p>QC 20130531</p> / Regional kombitransportsystem i Mälardalen