Delft University of Technology
Faculty of Civil Engineering
Transport, Infrastructure and Logistics
THE DESIGN OF A SYNCHROMODAL FREIGHT
TRANSPORT SYSTEM
APPLYING SYNCHROMODALITY TO IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE
OF CURRENT INTERMODAL FREIGHT TRANSPORT SYSTEM
Master Thesis by: Yun Fan
Student Number: 4187954
Thesis Supervisor: Prof. dr. R.A. Zuidwijk
Daily Supervisors: Dr. Bart Wiegmans; Dr. Behzad Behdani; and Dr. Ron van Duin
Period: February 2013 – October 2013
The design of a synchromodal freight transport system
Summary
In the current situation, although there are advantages of intermodal freight transport (IFT), the
performance of IFT is not good, which makes it attractive to only a certain extent. The market share of IFT
is low compared with single-mode road transport. It is necessary to analyze the current operation of IFT
system and apply the concept of synchromodal transport to improve the performance of IFT.
Firstly, the definition and characteristics of synchromodal transport need to be defined before applying it to
the current IFT. Three different solutions of IFT are discussed. In this research, the focusing point is on the
solution of “hinterland intermodal freight transport based on barge/rail service calling at one terminal in
the seaport” to which the synchromodal transport concept will be applied. Another important issue before
design synchromodal transport system is to analyze the current operation of IFT. In this research, the
service design is from the perspective of logistics service providers (LSPs). The position of LSPs in the
current IFT market is analyzed with Porter’s five forces model. It gives a clear understanding of the
operation of LSPs and their interactions with other main actors.
According to Porter’s five forces analysis, LSPs can improve the current IFT system from designing a
synchromodal transport service that fulfills the transportation demand of customers. Therefore the main
focus is on the match of supply and demand by integrating modalities. The design of the synchromodal
transport system is from the perspectives of three characteristics of synchromodal transport: 1. dynamic
planning of transportation; 2. Decision making based on network utilization; and 3. Combining transport
flow (volume). An optimization model is developed to create synchromodal transport service schedule and
analyze its impact. The model addresses the integrated service design and also takes the time factor into
account. In this research, it is assumed that defining the service schedule (with the optimal number of
services per day and the timing of these services) is done by a LSP, who is able to integrate the transport
volume and determine the schedule of different transport modes according to the demand data. The model
aims to minimize total service cost which include transport cost and waiting penalties. The input of the
model is transport volumes from a specific origin to a specific destination with the earliest pick-up time
and the due date. This model considers the constraints on delivery time, besides the constraints on capacity,
flow conservation and balance of service number. The output is the schedule of the barge/train service and
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The design of a synchromodal freight transport system
the flow distribution of container batches.
The case of container transport on Rotterdam – Tilburg is introduced to illustrate the model application. 6
scenarios are generated to analyze the performance of synchromodal transport with the assumptions for
actors, services, cost and time issues. Firstly the model is applied to the case with the pre-defined demand
pattern. The schedule for synchromodal transport service is generated by the model. The results show that
the total service cost is reduced, the share of sustainable modes (barge and train) is increased, and the
service utilization for barge is increased. So synchromodal transport can improve the performance of
current IFT system. Furthermore, the model could also be applied to the case with undefined demand
pattern. The results show that the assumptions for unit transport cost and waiting penalties are quite
important, which will influence the choice of transport modes. If the gaps between the unit cost of barge,
train and truck are relatively small, truck will become more interesting.
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