Container Transferium Rotterdam

Abstract

Although most of the congestion is caused by commuters in the rush hours, the continuing growth in container traffic in the Port of Rotterdam is also contributing to the traffic-jams. Long traffic-jams on the main access road A15 to the port and at the sea terminals result in long transport times and an unreliable delivery of the cargo. A Container Transferium situated in the direct hinterland of the Port of Rotterdam is a new logistical concept which allows for large numbers of containers to be transferred by inland vessels in a single movement from the sea terminals at the Maasvlakte to the Transferium and vice versa. The Transferium can lead to an improved reliability thanks to a better planning of the inland ships or ¿shuttles¿ and a better handling of the trucks, which have no longer to deal with traffic-jams en route to sea terminals. The improved reliability is very important for the Container Transferium, and helps to justify the costs of the extra handling per container. The paper evaluates the potential of this new hinterland transport concept for the Port of Rotterdam.