9. Interaction Effects of Yard Block Properties, Re-marshalling and TAS

In order to evaluate the effectiveness of re-marshalling and the Terminal Appointment System thoroughly, the impact of both is examined with a selective variation of yard block properties which are deemed to be central for the understanding of the interaction of yard block properties, re-marshalling and Terminal Appointment Systems. The aim is to eliminate any biased behaviour of the algorithm or performance enhancements through the Terminal Appointment System by certain combinations of yard block settings. For this purpose, the influences of two block parameters, are examined in this chapter. Namely, the average block occupancy influences the number of re-handling moves that can be performed in the block. Generally, it is more difficult to re-handle containers in densely filled blocks. Even in cases of a high quantity of precise arrival information, re-handling is impeded by a limited number of available empty slots. Hence, it is worthwhile to analyse how densely filled the block can be stacked while it remains possible to benefit from implementing and operating Terminal Appointment Systems. Next, it makes naturally no sense to operate the Terminal Appointment System if the considered yard block is a pure transshipment block with no external trucks arriving at its handover area. Therefore, it is important to identify the threshold for the transshipment rate of a yard block at which imprecise or unknown arrival information of trucks at the handover areas considerably impact the productivity of the yard block. The empirical study is conducted by simulation based on a rigorous experimental design and statistical evaluation.