Shipping Lines and Logistics

Abstract

It has been acknowledged that logistics is a driving force that shapes the integration of the transport chain. This paper argues that while the liner shipping industry exhibits increased horizontal integration, its vertical integration remains limited. A clear distinction is drawn between freight logistics, container logistics and vessel logistics. Freight logistics is defined as part of the supply chain process, the focus of which is the goods being transported. The purpose of container logistics is to optimize the movements of the containers themselves, an operation that is directly related to vessel logistics which is concerned with maximizing vessel utilization. The paper demonstrates that shipping lines have to find the correct balance between these three types of logistics. Their interest in vertical integration is primarily because the management of container logistics provides direct support to vessel logistics. Their involvement in freight logistics remains unclear and uncertain.     

Constructing Time‐Scaled Maps: Switzerland from 1950 to 2000†

Abstract

The article discusses the construction of a time‐scaled maps series for Switzerland documenting the shrinking of the country since 1950. It describes underlying network models and the mathematical approach employed for the necessary rescaling. In conclusion, it presents the maps and discusses how the country was shrunk by half.     

A slacks-based network DEA efficiency analysis of European airlines

Conventional data envelopment analysis (DEA) models consider a system as a single-process ‘black box’. There are, however, DEA approaches that consider a system as composed of distinct processes or stages, each one with its own inputs and outputs and with intermediate flows among the stages. In this paper, a network DEA approach to airline efficiency assessment is presented. One conclusion of the study is that the network DEA approach has more discriminative power than the single-process DEA approach and that the computed targets, efficiency scores and rankings are more valid. This is because network DEA allows for a more fine-grained analysis that leads to a more realistic estimation of the overall system production possibility set than the one assumed by conventional DEA. In other words, compared with network DEA the conventional, single-process DEA represents an aggregated analysis that merges all system processes with their inputs and outputs and ignores their internal flows. The main drawbacks are the need for more detailed data (i.e. at the process level) and the greater complexity of the resulting models, especially if there are inputs or outputs that are shared among the processes.     

A new passive approach to reducing the carbody vertical bending vibration of railway vehicles

This paper brings to view a new passive approach regarding the reduction of the flexible carbody vertical bending vibration of railway vehicles via two anti-bending bars fixed onto the longitudinal beams of a carbody underframe. The anti-bending bars operate as elastic elements limiting the rotation of the carbody cross-sections and thus increasing the bending carbody frequency. The anti-bending bars are dimensioned so that the frequency of the first bending mode of the carbody to be convenient in terms of ride comfort. The effectiveness in the use of the anti-bending bars is proven by the lowering of the vibration level and improvement of the vehicle ride comfort.     

The urban road pricing scheme to curb pollution in Milan,Italy: Description,impacts and preliminary cost–benefit analysis assessment

Starting from January 2008 Milan implemented a charging scheme to enter an 8 km² area of the city centre. The term used to denote the scheme is Ecopass, conveying the stated political objective of the scheme: a pass to improve the quality of the urban environment (ECO). The charge depends on the Euro emission standard of the vehicle. The paper illustrates the main features and impacts of the Milan Ecopass scheme, and presents a preliminary cost–benefit analysis. The scheme has been effective in curbing not only pollution emissions, but also congestion, and the result has been achieved with low implementation costs and without major political opposition. The cost–benefits analysis presents an overall net benefit. The identification of the winners and losers of the policy is conditioned by penalty payments. Without including the penalties, the surface public transport users and the society at large are the main winners, whereas car and especially freight vehicle users are net losers.     

The new governance structure of French seaports: an initial post-evaluation

France undertook a large port reform in 2008, which came into force in 2010–2011. It mostly applies a landlord port model to major French seaports, with the prediction that doing so will restore competiveness. This article presents the 2008 port reform, discusses why it was needed, notably with regard to the underperformance of container traffic, and details how new governing bodies are sharing their responsibilities amongst themselves. To this end, a textual analysis of the agenda items for the governing bodies created since 2011 of the largest French seaport, Port of Marseille, provides a means to compare the items discussed by the former management bodies. This analysis identifies a trend, in which the supervisory board focuses on global issues, the advisory board addresses local issues, and the board of directors considers internal issues. Even if ongoing, this transition creates favorable conditions to work more efficiently and may represent a step toward the better performance of French seaports.     

New evidence on walking distances to transit stops: identifying redundancies and gaps using variable service areas

The percentage of the population being served by a transit system in a metropolitan region is a key system performance measure but depends heavily on the definition of service area. Observing existing service areas can help identify transit system gaps and redundancies. In the public transit industry, buffers at 400 m (0.25 miles) around bus stops and 800 m (0.5 miles) around rail stations are commonly used to identify the area from which most transit users will access the system by foot. This study uses detailed OD survey information to generate service areas that define walking catchment areas around transit services in Montreal, Canada. The 85th percentile walking distance to bus transit service is found to be around 524 m for home-based trip origins, 1,259 m for home-based commuter rail trip origins. Yet these values are found to vary based on our analysis using two statistical models. Walking distances vary based on route and trip qualities (such as type of transit service, transfers and wait time), as well as personal, household, and neighbourhood characteristics. Accordingly, service areas around transit stations should vary based on the service offered and attributes of the people and places served. The generated service areas derived from the generalized statistical model are then used to identify gaps and redundancies at the system and route level using Montreal region as an example. This study can be of benefit to transport engineers and planners trying to maximize transit service coverage in a region while avoiding oversupply of service.     

A multioutput cost function for the services of Spanish ports' infrastructure

A long run multioutput cost function for the infrastructure services of Spanish ports is estimated using 286 observations on 26 ports during 11 years. Cargo specific marginal costs and the degree of economies of scale and scope are calculated up to a port level. Results show that liquid bulk and non-containerised general cargo present the lowest and largest marginal cost, respectively. Increasing returns to scale are present in general and for each and every port. A scope analysis indicates that port specialisation is not appropriate from the viewpoint of infrastructure.     

An Alert System for Beach Hazard Management in the Balearic Islands

A real-time beach hazard level associated with nearshore hydrodynamics is presented in this article. The suitability of the discussed alert system is illustrated via its application to fifteen beaches in the Balearic Islands (Western Mediterranean Sea) providing nearshore safety conditions for beach safety manager. The system provides daily forecasts of nearshore wave conditions using the deep water wave forecasts. The shallow water wave data (wave height, period, and direction) together with the morphology of the site (presence of bars, capes, beach type, etc.) are used to define a hazard level (low, medium, and high) associated with local conditions. The resulting hazard level is transmitted via SMS to lifeguards and local authorities for real-time beach management. The low computational cost of this system after the initial implementation and subsequent calibration results in a very suitable approach for beach management in order to mitigate risks related to local hydrodynamics.     

Long-term wear and rolling contact fatigue behaviour of a conformal wheel profile designed for large radius curves

There are many reasons to optimise the wheel–rail interface through redesign or maintenance. Minimising wear and rolling contact fatigue (RCF) initiation on wheels and/or rails is often at the forefront of such considerations. This paper covers the design of a conformal wheel profile and its long-term wear and RCF performance to optimise the wheel–rail interface and subsequently reduce the occurrence of surface-initiated RCF on South Africa’s iron ore export line. A comparative study is performed using multibody dynamics simulation together with numerical wheel wear and RCF predictions. The advantages of a conformal wheel profile design are illustrated by evaluating the worn shape and resulting contact conditions of the conformal design. The conformal design has a steadier equivalent conicity progression and a smaller conicity range compared with the current wheel profile design over the wheel’s wear life. The combination of a conformal wheel profile design with 2?mm hollow wear and inadequate adherence to grinding tolerances often result in two-point contact, thereby increasing the probability of RCF initiation. The conformal wheel profile design proved to have wear and potential RCF benefits compared with the current wheel profile design. However, implementation of such a conformal wheel profile must be accompanied by improved rail grinding practices to ensure rail profile compliance.