Heuristic Algorithms for Constructing Transporter Pools in Container Terminals

In port container terminals, containers are transported between vessels and storage blocks by transporters. To improve the utilization of transporters and the operational efficiency of container terminals, the pooling strategy is widely applied, and transporters in the same pool are shared by a group of quay cranes (QCs). This paper compares various strategies for constructing the pools: one pool for each QC, one pool for all the QCs deployed to each vessel, one pool for all the QCs for multiple adjacent vessels, and one pool for all the operating QCs in the terminal. Various heuristic algorithms (HAs) to construct pools of transporters are suggested and evaluated in terms of the total delay time of QC operation and the total travel distance of transporters. In addition, opportunities for dual-command-cycle operation are analyzed for each of these heuristic rules by using different data sets of QC operations. Various scenarios of QC operation are generated, and the HAs are compared in terms of their performance through a simulation study.