2024 Volume 80 Issue 20 Article ID: 24-20022
To reduce the number of vehicle trips required for empty container repositioning, the introduction of foldable containers is proposed. However, using foldable containers requires both folding time (FT) and waiting time (WT) to stack the required number of tiers (NT). These additional times can adversely affect the utilization rates of vehicles and containers, potentially reducing the overall efficiency of foldable containers. This study aims to systematically analyze these impacts by constructing a stochastic simulation model. The model validates the relationship between the reduction in the number of vehicle trips due to the introduction of foldable containers and the container dwell times, represented by FT and WT. Numerical experiments reveal that the length of the FT significantly affects the efficiency of empty container repositioning.
