A three-stage modeling approach for the design and organization of intermodal transportation services

Presents an approach to the modelling of containerized intermodal transport. This approach is strongly connected to the various perspectives of the transportation entrepreneurs and the shippers. The first stage in the approach supports the location choices of potential intermodal terminals. The formalization is based on a linear programming model minimizing the integral transportation costs. 1. Railway or water infrastructure permitting, the model decides on the basis of regional transportation demands whether it is more efficient to service by intermodal transportation or by road transportation. 2. When the rough locations of terminals are identified in a region, a second model is applied to search for the exact location in the region. The preference locations are determined on the basis of their infrastructural unlocking possibilities. A detailed cost model is developed to support this exact location decision. 3. The last part of this approach is focused on the possible customers in the neighborhood of the terminals. Analysis of suitability, timeliness, and deliverance reliability of goods are factors of logistic importance. These aspects of integration both for the terminal and its customers are specified by a simulation model. The approach contains feedback-loops to learn from more detailed insights and has been successfully applied for two new terminal locations