SmartPort Community lunch meeting October 25th H10-31 12.00-13.30

Presentation by Panagiotis Ypsilantis and Susan Niesen on the ULTIMATE PROJECT

PROGRAMME

Presentation Summary

1. Utimate project introduction - Efficient Multimodal Hinterland Nettworks

The ULTIMATE project is focussed on developing and evluating new concepts for the design and operation of efficient multimodal hinterland networks. There are several parties that participate in this project; EUR, TUE, ECT, Port of Rotterdam, Modality, Portbase, KEYRAIL, Port of Amsterdam, Brabant Intermodal and NV Regio Venlo. The Dryport concept is based on the idea that not all industrial and economic activities have to take place close to the seaports, but that good infrastructures and inland nodes can help accommodate trade growth, and bring regional development inland. The view of dryports and the development of hinterland networks have been seen as a new dimension for competition from a seaport's economic point of view, according to Notteboom & Rodrigue (2005). The extended gate concept incorporates some of the natural consequences of the dryport concept, such as integral network design and direct operational control in the transport network, but it puts more emphasis on coordination and control of the flows in the multimodal hinterland networks. In this presentation the Extended Gate concept will be analyzed as implemented by the European Container Terminals (ECT) through their extended Gateway Services (EGS). Moreover, the four work packages of the ULTIMATE project will be introduced.

2. The legal position of Terminal Operators in Hinterland networks

The subject of the presentation is the legal position of terminal operators within the legal framework of intermodal transportation. The risk profile and liability exposure of terminal operators changes fundamentally when the duty to carry goods is added to the traditional duties such as stevedoring, storing and customs related operations. Carriage of goods is regulated by mandatory law, from which no deviations can be made in a contract, whereas the other services are not all governed by mandatory law and the terminal operator may use his freedom of contract to shape his legal position through contractual arrangements with his customers, sub-contractors and others. Depending on the role the terminal operator has, the applicable rules vary which influences his legal position.

In transport contracts are often related, so the wider network of contractual relations has to be taken into account as well, because the legal position does not only depend on the relation towards contractual parties but also on the relation with third parties.

3. Design of Efficient and Sustainable Port - Hinterland Transport Networks

In this presentation the main considerations under port-hinterland container transport network design will be discussed and one quantitative model, related to extended gate services will be presented; that is the “Freight Transport Service Network Design: The network operator perspective”. In the common network design formulations the preferable nodes and links are selected assuming that the associated costs are known and that each party concerned with the network, seaport terminal operators, inland terminal operators, hub operators and multi-modal carriers act individually. The majority of business models related to the Extended Gate and Dryport concepts suggest that there are network operators who control seaport and inland terminals as much as some of the intermodal connections between them, so it follows that each part of the transport chain is not operated individually. When considering the network operator’s perspective the links, nodes and services of the hinterland network, controlled by the network operator, must be designed such that they attract flows in a competitive environment with alternative transport solutions. We formulate the service network design as a bi-level mathematical program. The objective of the first level is to maximize the revenues of a network operator, while minimizing, in the second level, the variable and fixed costs applied to the users of the network.