Nathan Hutson

Characteristics of Drayage Operations at the Port of Houston, Texas

Port drayage—defined as a truck pickup from or delivery to a seaport, with the trip origin and destination in the same urban area—is a critical, yet comparatively understudied link in the intermodal supply chain. Because port dray trucks operate primarily in urban environments, they significantly affect congestion and air quality. Drayage industry characteristics at the Port of Houston Authority (POHA) in Texas are identified to help planners prepare for continually increasing container volumes, while considering the dual needs of maintaining profitability and reducing societal costs. Results are reported from interviews with drayage managers and a survey of 103 port drivers at the Port of Houstons Barbours Cut container terminal regarding demographics, working conditions, truck characteristics, route characteristics, and port operations. The study results then are compared with existing literature, most of which originates in the area of Los Angeles, California. Substantial variation is apparent in truck age and mileage. Although few drivers were unsatisfied with overall terminal efficiency, many had suggestions for improving efficiency. Results indicate that the industry is relatively stable, despite the increasing demands that stem from high container growth rates. Finally, methods whereby the dray fleet could be modernized through grants for air quality improvement are examined.

Mining the Sources of Delay for Dray Trucks at Container Terminals

To isolate the causes of abnormally high truck turn time, this paper develops a methodology for examining the sources of delay for dray trucks at container terminals. It is motivated by the need of port authorities and terminal operators to develop specialized solutions to reduce turn time based on terminal-specific causes. Although many ports have taken steps to improve the general level of service for trucks, such as establishing chassis pools and extending gate hours, fewer have performed the transaction-level analysis required to determine why a certain subset of operations is significantly higher than the average, thereby hindering the overall level of service. After problematic steps in the truck transaction process are isolated, terminals can select and deploy a range of technological or organizational countermeasures to address the problem. This study draws on a database of truck activity from the port of Houston, Texas. Because of the large number of gate transactions and potential factors that could contribute to high truck turn time, a data mining technique is used. Specifically, a decision tree technique is explored and described in this paper. Results indicate that import transactions that require chassis tend to have high truck turn time because truckers need to find a matching chassis. This paper demonstrates how decision trees can be used by port authorities and terminal operators to gain insight into their operations without the need to perform exhaustive data analysis.

Comparative strategies for developing hinterland transport by container barge analysis for Rotterdam and U.S. ports

The development of intermodal barging has gained strategic importance in the hinterland transport systems of container seaports. This paper discusses strategies to develop container barge transport further as a hinterland system. This development is addressed in the context of U.S. ports, where container barge transport is still underdeveloped, and the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, which has the most extensive container barge hinterland system in Europe, but where continued development of container barge transport has been stagnating. A strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis is performed to define development strategies. Because of the different levels of container barge development in U.S. ports and the Port of Rotterdam, different strategies are needed. The main challenge for Rotterdam is to restructure the container barge hinterland system to restore its competitive strength in terms of cost and reliability, thereby enabling the port to handle much larger container volumes in an efficient way. The main causes of the problems are seaport related; that is, the inefficient handling of barges in the port, and hence the strategies used in Rotterdam should be focused on solving these problems. The causes of the underdevelopment of container barging in U.S. ports are much broader and, therefore, need a combination of general and context-specific strategies. A major conclusion is that in both cases multiple public- and private-sector actors have important roles to play to develop further the container barge hinterland system.

Mexico City, Mexico, Commuter Rail: Planning and Implementation of Multijurisdictional, Public–Private Partnership Project

The Mexico City Metropolitan Area in Mexico has grown beyond the original confines of the Federal District and sprawled into surrounding cities located in Mexico State. This transition from a large but centralized city to a sprawling megalopolis means that the challenge of providing services, including adequate transportation options, to the population is growing exponentially. In response to the growing population of commuters, the government has invested in various mass transit projects to increase travel efficiency. The development of a commuter rail system capable of transporting hundreds of thousands of suburban commuters is a priority project that has spanned three Mexican presidencies with continued support. Since its opening in 2008, this suburban electric rail system, the Ferrocarril Suburbano, has been serving commuters between the Mexico City greater metropolitan area and municipalities in the northwest, greatly reducing passenger travel time and curtailing emissions. The project has been sponsored at all levels of government—federal, state, and local—and includes a public–private partnership. Apart from the projects uniqueness in its working collaboration between the different levels of government, as well as the successful concession process and the partnership with the concessionaire, it is also distinctive because it is the first commuter rail project of its kind in Mexico that uses existing rail infrastructure. This study examines the projects development, financing, and concession process.

North American Marine Highways

This report presents an evaluation of the potential for moving intermodal containers on chassis, non-containerized trailers, or rail cars on marine highways in North America. The report is especially valuable for its assessment of the conditions for feasibility; its analysis of the economic, technical, regulatory, and logistical barriers inhibiting greater use of the marine highway system; and proposed solutions for barrier elimination. This report will enable public and private stakeholders to better understand the underlying reasons for the current underutilization of the marine highway system. This marine highway system (often referred to as short sea shipping) includes navigable rivers, lakes, canals, seaways, and coastal waterways. Currently, less than 4% of the Nations domestic freight moves by water.