Impediments in developing dry ports – A heuristic view

This paper will describe and review in-depth the impediments in implementing and developing dry ports, from a heuristic point of view. The dry port concept is based on the idea of a seaport directly connected by rail to inland intermodal terminals, where shippers can leave and/or collect their goods in intermodal loading units as if directly at the seaport. With dry port implementation, CO2 emissions would be decreased, queues and long waiting times at seaport terminals avoided, and the risk of road accidents would be reduced; thus, regional sustainability would increase. As the container industry has gone through a huge boom up to the world economic crisis, the idea of implementing dry ports into international freight logistics,coping with the need for environmental protection and the creation of new jobs, might at least be part of the solution. Methodology used in this paper is based on extended literature review, interviews and case studies, with external validation regarding dry ports implementation, and is primarily meant to highlight the main impediments which may occur not only in terms of the actual implementation of dry ports but also as far as the actors involved in containerized freight trade are concerned.