A Binary Integer Programming Formulation and Solution for Truck Appointment Scheduling and Reducing Truck Turnaround Time in Container Terminals

The truck scheduling problem in container terminals has become quite challenging due to the continuous growth of the world seaborne trade. Proper planning of the arrival of trucks to the terminal gate is necessary to limit truck congestion, not only inside the terminal but also in the surrounding area. One of the methodologies that are implemented to manage the chaotic arrival of trucks is the implementation of a Truck Appointment System (TAS). A TAS fosters the endeavors of solving the random arrival of trucks that causes higher truck densities, long possible turnaround times and excess penalties. In this paper, an integer programming model is formulated to minimize the truck turnaround time manifested by the total delay of the trucks arriving in the terminal to pick up/deliver containers from/to the terminal. Various scenarios are investigated, and the obtained results show that the TAS reduces the delay of the trucks and the turnaround time. According to the inputs of the scenarios, the tardiness per truck ranges from 0 to 3.5 hours. All the scenarios were solved in less than one seconds.