Container Terminal Planning Rules - A Study of Mega Operators

Abstract

Most of the studies on container terminal planning are conducted from a bottom-up approach; the operational data in terminal operations have been collected and used as bases to estimate possible strategies for deploying terminal facilities to handle increasing container traffic. The drawback to a bottom-up approach, however, is that the output can only apply to specific terminals under certain conditions. To compensate for the shortcomings of this technique, we adopt the top-down approach to break down terminal planning rules by long-term observation of the development of mega terminal operators. Two Hong Kong based mega-terminal operators, Hongkong International Terminals (HIT) and Modern Terminal Ltd. (MTL), were selected as the samples. The objective of this study is to determine the terminal planning rules followed by mega-operators and consequently provide practical references for terminal operators. Together with analysis generated from the bottom-up approach, terminal operators will be able to thoroughly examine terminal planning rules and make the best choice for the deployment of terminal facilities.