IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i11p6655-d827256.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Repositioning and Optimal Re-Allocation of Empty Containers: A Review of Methods, Models, and Applications

Author

Listed:
  • Alaa Abdelshafie

    (Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, College of International Transport and Logistics, Alexandria 1029, Egypt)

  • May Salah

    (Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, College of International Transport and Logistics, Alexandria 1029, Egypt)

  • Tomaž Kramberger

    (Faculty of Logistics, University of Maribor, 3000 Celje, Slovenia)

  • Dejan Dragan

    (Faculty of Logistics, University of Maribor, 3000 Celje, Slovenia)

Abstract

Managing empty-container movements is one of the most challenging logistics problems in the shipping field. With the growth of global trade imbalance, the repositioning process has become necessary, immediately after emptying a container. The main contribution of this research paper is to enrich the most frequently used methods, models, and applications in the literature, for relaxing the empty-container-repositioning problem. The article presents practices that vary between organizational policies, technical solutions, and modelling applications. A review of optimization models has been used for comparisons, based on specified criteria, such as the time frame, inputs, outputs, scale of the project, and value. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was applied through the online database Web of Science (WOS). It gives a comprehensive description of all the relevant published documents. On the basis of conducting a brief systematic review, future research opportunities have been determined, considering the emerging phenomena in container transport chains.

Suggested Citation

  • Alaa Abdelshafie & May Salah & Tomaž Kramberger & Dejan Dragan, 2022. "Repositioning and Optimal Re-Allocation of Empty Containers: A Review of Methods, Models, and Applications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-23, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:11:p:6655-:d:827256
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/11/6655/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/11/6655/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wang, Shuaian & Meng, Qiang, 2012. "Liner ship fleet deployment with container transshipment operations," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 470-484.
    2. Wang, Shuaian, 2014. "A novel hybrid-link-based container routing model," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 165-175.
    3. Teodor Gabriel Crainic & Michel Gendreau & Pierre Dejax, 1993. "Dynamic and Stochastic Models for the Allocation of Empty Containers," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 41(1), pages 102-126, February.
    4. Rafael Epstein & Andres Neely & Andres Weintraub & Fernando Valenzuela & Sergio Hurtado & Guillermo Gonzalez & Alex Beiza & Mauricio Naveas & Florencio Infante & Fernando Alarcon & Gustavo Angulo & Cr, 2012. "A Strategic Empty Container Logistics Optimization in a Major Shipping Company," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 42(1), pages 5-16, February.
    5. Kuzmicz, Katarzyna Anna & Pesch, Erwin, 2019. "Approaches to empty container repositioning problems in the context of Eurasian intermodal transportation," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 194-213.
    6. Wang, Shuaian, 2013. "Essential elements in tactical planning models for container liner shipping," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 84-99.
    7. Roso, Violeta & Woxenius, Johan & Lumsden, Kenth, 2009. "The dry port concept: connecting container seaports with the hinterland," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 338-345.
    8. Shintani, Koichi & Imai, Akio & Nishimura, Etsuko & Papadimitriou, Stratos, 2007. "The container shipping network design problem with empty container repositioning," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 39-59, January.
    9. Nina Vojdani & Felix Lootz & René Rösner, 2013. "Optimizing empty container logistics based on a collaborative network approach," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 15(4), pages 467-493, December.
    10. Alan L. Erera & Juan C. Morales & Martin Savelsbergh, 2009. "Robust Optimization for Empty Repositioning Problems," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 57(2), pages 468-483, April.
    11. Norberto Sáinz Bernat & Frederik Schulte & Stefan Voß & Jürgen Böse, 2016. "Empty Container Management at Ports Considering Pollution, Repair Options, and Street-Turns," Mathematical Problems in Engineering, Hindawi, vol. 2016, pages 1-13, December.
    12. Jeong, Yoonjea & Saha, Subrata & Chatterjee, Debajyoti & Moon, Ilkyeong, 2018. "Direct shipping service routes with an empty container management strategy," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 123-142.
    13. Xing, Xinjie & Drake, Paul R. & Song, Dongping & Zhou, Yang, 2019. "Tank Container Operators’ profit maximization through dynamic operations planning integrated with the quotation-booking process under multiple uncertainties," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 274(3), pages 924-946.
    14. Maxim A. Dulebenets & Junayed Pasha & Olumide F. Abioye & Masoud Kavoosi, 2021. "Vessel scheduling in liner shipping: a critical literature review and future research needs," Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 43-106, March.
    15. Long, Yin & Lee, Loo Hay & Chew, Ek Peng, 2012. "The sample average approximation method for empty container repositioning with uncertainties," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 222(1), pages 65-75.
    16. Song, Dong-Ping & Dong, Jing-Xin, 2012. "Cargo routing and empty container repositioning in multiple shipping service routes," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 46(10), pages 1556-1575.
    17. Raymond K. Cheung & Chuen-Yih Chen, 1998. "A Two-Stage Stochastic Network Model and Solution Methods for the Dynamic Empty Container Allocation Problem," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(2), pages 142-162, May.
    18. Dong-Ping Song & Jing-Xin Dong, 2008. "Empty Container Management in Cyclic Shipping Routes," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 10(4), pages 335-361, December.
    19. Naima Belayachi & Fouzia Amrani & Karim Bouamrane, 2018. "A Decision-Making Tool for the Optimization of Empty Containers' Return in the Liner Shipping: Optimization by Using the Genetic Algorithm," International Journal of Decision Support System Technology (IJDSST), IGI Global, vol. 10(3), pages 39-56, July.
    20. Dong-Ping Song & Jing-Xin Dong, 2015. "Empty Container Repositioning," International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, in: Chung-Yee Lee & Qiang Meng (ed.), Handbook of Ocean Container Transport Logistics, edition 127, chapter 6, pages 163-208, Springer.
    21. Mittal, Neha & Boile, Maria & Baveja, Alok & Theofanis, Sotiris, 2013. "Determining optimal inland-empty-container depot locations under stochastic demand," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 50-60.
    22. Alfandari, Laurent & Davidović, Tatjana & Furini, Fabio & Ljubić, Ivana & Maraš, Vladislav & Martin, Sébastien, 2019. "Tighter MIP models for Barge Container Ship Routing," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 38-54.
    23. Zheng, Jianfeng & Sun, Zhuo & Gao, Ziyou, 2015. "Empty container exchange among liner carriers," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 158-169.
    24. Alessandro Olivo & Paola Zuddas & Massimo Di Francesco & Antonio Manca, 2005. "An Operational Model for Empty Container Management," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 7(3), pages 199-222, September.
    25. Wong, Eugene Y.C. & Tai, Allen H. & Raman, Mardjuki, 2015. "A maritime container repositioning yield-based optimization model with uncertain upsurge demand," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 147-161.
    26. Zhou, Wei-Hua & Lee, Chung-Yee, 2009. "Pricing and competition in a transportation market with empty equipment repositioning," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 43(6), pages 677-691, July.
    27. Meng, Qiang & Wang, Shuaian, 2011. "Liner shipping service network design with empty container repositioning," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(5), pages 695-708, September.
    28. Xie, Yangyang & Liang, Xiaoying & Ma, Lijun & Yan, Houmin, 2017. "Empty container management and coordination in intermodal transport," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 257(1), pages 223-232.
    29. Elina VaramÄki & Jukka Vesalainen, 2003. "Modelling different types of multilateral co-operation between SMEs," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(1), pages 27-47, January.
    30. Zheng, Jianfeng & Sun, Zhuo & Zhang, Fangjun, 2016. "Measuring the perceived container leasing prices in liner shipping network design with empty container repositioning," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 123-140.
    31. Di Francesco, Massimo & Crainic, Teodor Gabriel & Zuddas, Paola, 2009. "The effect of multi-scenario policies on empty container repositioning," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(5), pages 758-770, September.
    32. Meng, Qiang & Zhao, Hui & Wang, Yadong, 2019. "Revenue management for container liner shipping services: Critical review and future research directions," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 280-292.
    33. Dongping Song * & Jie Zhang & Jonathan Carter & Tony Field & James Marshall & John Polak & Kimberly Schumacher & Proshun Sinha-Ray & John Woods, 2005. "On cost-efficiency of the global container shipping network," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 15-30, January.
    34. Chang, Hwan & Jula, Hossein & Chassiakos, Anastasios & Ioannou, Petros, 2008. "A heuristic solution for the empty container substitution problem," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 203-216, March.
    35. Dong, Jing-Xin & Song, Dong-Ping, 2009. "Container fleet sizing and empty repositioning in liner shipping systems," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(6), pages 860-877, November.
    36. Moon, Ilkyeong & Do Ngoc, Anh-Dung & Konings, Rob, 2013. "Foldable and standard containers in empty container repositioning," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 107-124.
    37. Akyüz, M. Hakan & Lee, Chung-Yee, 2016. "Service type assignment and container routing with transit time constraints and empty container repositioning for liner shipping service networks," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 46-71.
    38. Jula, Hossein & Chassiakos, Anastasios & Ioannou, Petros, 2006. "Port dynamic empty container reuse," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 43-60, January.
    39. Shintani, Koichi & Konings, Rob & Imai, Akio, 2010. "The impact of foldable containers on container fleet management costs in hinterland transport," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(5), pages 750-763, September.
    40. Choong, Sook Tying & Cole, Michael H. & Kutanoglu, Erhan, 2002. "Empty container management for intermodal transportation networks," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 423-438, November.
    41. Akio Imai & Fausto Rivera, 2001. "Strategic fleet size planning for maritime refrigerated containers," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(4), pages 361-374, October.
    42. Meng, Qiang & Wang, Shuaian, 2012. "Liner ship fleet deployment with week-dependent container shipment demand," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 222(2), pages 241-252.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kuzmicz, Katarzyna Anna & Pesch, Erwin, 2019. "Approaches to empty container repositioning problems in the context of Eurasian intermodal transportation," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 194-213.
    2. Lee, Chung-Yee & Song, Dong-Ping, 2017. "Ocean container transport in global supply chains: Overview and research opportunities," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 442-474.
    3. Najafi, Mehdi & Zolfagharinia, Hossein, 2021. "Pricing and quality setting strategy in maritime transportation: Considering empty repositioning and demand uncertainty," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    4. Zheng, Jianfeng & Sun, Zhuo & Gao, Ziyou, 2015. "Empty container exchange among liner carriers," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 158-169.
    5. Dongping Song, 2021. "A Literature Review, Container Shipping Supply Chain: Planning Problems and Research Opportunities," Logistics, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-26, June.
    6. Zheng, Jianfeng & Sun, Zhuo & Zhang, Fangjun, 2016. "Measuring the perceived container leasing prices in liner shipping network design with empty container repositioning," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 123-140.
    7. Yi Zhao & Qingwan Xue & Xi Zhang, 2018. "Stochastic Empty Container Repositioning Problem with CO 2 Emission Considerations for an Intermodal Transportation System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-24, November.
    8. Jeong, Yoonjea & Saha, Subrata & Chatterjee, Debajyoti & Moon, Ilkyeong, 2018. "Direct shipping service routes with an empty container management strategy," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 123-142.
    9. Long, Yin & Lee, Loo Hay & Chew, Ek Peng, 2012. "The sample average approximation method for empty container repositioning with uncertainties," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 222(1), pages 65-75.
    10. Song, Dong-Ping & Dong, Jing-Xin, 2012. "Cargo routing and empty container repositioning in multiple shipping service routes," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 46(10), pages 1556-1575.
    11. Kolar, Petr & Schramm, Hans-Joachim & Prockl, Günter, 2018. "Intermodal transport and repositioning of empty containers in Central and Eastern Europe hinterland," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 73-82.
    12. Xing, Xinjie & Drake, Paul R. & Song, Dongping & Zhou, Yang, 2019. "Tank Container Operators’ profit maximization through dynamic operations planning integrated with the quotation-booking process under multiple uncertainties," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 274(3), pages 924-946.
    13. Zheng, Jianfeng & Qi, Jingwen & Sun, Zhuo & Li, Feng, 2018. "Community structure based global hub location problem in liner shipping," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 1-19.
    14. Wang, Shuaian & Liu, Zhiyuan & Bell, Michael G.H., 2015. "Profit-based maritime container assignment models for liner shipping networks," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 59-76.
    15. Wong, Eugene Y.C. & Tai, Allen H. & Raman, Mardjuki, 2015. "A maritime container repositioning yield-based optimization model with uncertain upsurge demand," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 147-161.
    16. Li, Ling & Wang, Bin & Cook, David P., 2015. "Reprint of “Enhancing green supply chain initiatives via empty container reuse”," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 109-123.
    17. Shintani, Koichi & Konings, Rob & Imai, Akio, 2019. "Combinable containers: A container innovation to save container fleet and empty container repositioning costs," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 248-272.
    18. Xing, Xinjie & Song, Dongping & Qiu, Chengfeng & Drake, Paul R. & Zhan, Yuanzhu, 2023. "Joint tank container demurrage policy and flow optimisation using a progressive hedging algorithm with expanded time-space network," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 307(2), pages 663-679.
    19. Jingyao Song & Xin Tang & Chuanxu Wang & Changyan Xu & Junyi Wei, 2022. "Optimization of Multi-Port Empty Container Repositioning under Uncertain Environments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-16, October.
    20. Li, Ling & Wang, Bin & Cook, David P., 2014. "Enhancing green supply chain initiatives via empty container reuse," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 190-204.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:11:p:6655-:d:827256. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.