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Yard operations in the

container terminal-a study in
the ‘unproductive moves’
TAO CHEN

Available online: 03 Dec 2010

To cite this article: TAO CHEN (1999): Yard operations in the container terminal-a
study in the ‘unproductive moves’, Maritime Policy & Management, 26:1, 27-38

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 MARIT. POL. MGMT., 1999, VOL. 26, NO. 1, 27± 38

Yard operations in the container terminalÐ a study in

the `unproductive moves’

TAO CHEN
Department of Maritime Studies and International Transport, University
of Wales College of Cardi€ , PO Box 907, CF1 3YP, UK

Research that examined the land utilization of the container terminals in a global
perspective[1] revealed that the land utilization planned and achieved by Asian
container terminals are much higher than the terminals in western Europe and
North America. From the operational point of view, this has led to the question:
`what are the impacts of these strategies in land utilization on the yard opera-
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tions?’ This has subsequently led the research study to focus on the yard opera-
tions within the container terminal.

1. Introduction
In terminal operations, the container yard plays a vital role and acts as the nerve
centre in the operations. Because most of the terminal operations either originate
from or are destined to the container yard. Therefore, higher container stacking in
the yard will inevitably in¯ uence most of the operations carried out in the terminal.
For terminal operators who have to increase their land productivity by way of
stacking containers even higher in the yard, one major consequence would be a
higher number of `unproductive container movements’ taken in the terminal opera-
tions thus in¯ uencing overall operations e ciency. But is this the case? If not, then
what are the major causes generating the `unproductive moves’ undertaken in the
terminal operations? Does higher container stacking generate all the `unproductive
moves’ in terminal operations or are there other factors and causes?
In order to ® nd the answer, several studies were conducted. The ® rst examined the
role the container yard played in terminal operations. The second examined the
operations which make up the terminal system. The third examined the `unproduc-
tive moves’ carried out during the terminal operations and sought to discover their
causes. Based on a systematic approach, the impact of higher container stacking in
the yard on the terminal operations, could thus be examined.

2. The research approach

Traditionally, research into terminal operations, in terms of operations within the
container terminal, have concentrated solely on ship operationsÐ the loading and
unloading of the containers between the containership and quayside. Major factors
considered to in¯ uence the e ciency of terminal operations have therefore mainly
been examined from the ship operator’s point of view. Most research studies have
ignored the importance of the back-up systems (terminal operations) and the fact
that the terminal operations system is composed of several sub-systems. Such a
partial approach, such as the study solely of ship operations, has therefore, failed
to provide a satisfactory understanding of the operations involved in the container
terminal.
0308± 8839/99 $12 00 Ñ 1999 Taylor & Francis Ltd.
 28 T. Chen

In spite of the existence of several studies examining terminal operations as a

whole, a detailed and comprehensive analysis of terminal operations has never
been carried out. This paper is therefore concerned not only with the operations
in the sub-systems, but also includes a detailed study of the management needed
during these operations. It deals with such questions as: `What are the factors caus-
ing unproductive movement’?, `How do these in¯ uence terminal operations’? and
`What are the impacts of higher land utilization [2] on the terminal operations’?
Regretfully, these questions have been ignored by the majority of researchers.
Therefore, the literature has not been able to provide a comprehensive and detailed
explanation of the questions raised. Furthermore, in order to obtain an in-depth
understanding of the ¯ ow and complex patterns of operations within the terminal
system, a systematic approach to examining the terminal operations has been
adopted.

3. The terminal as a system

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A container terminal consists of the container yard, which is situated between two
demands, one associated with the transfer of containers between the container yard
and the containership (sea side), and the other associated with the transfer of con-
tainers between the container yard and the road/rail system (land side).
Container handling operations within a container terminal, therefore, consist of a
series of inter-dependent activities. The movement of a container through the term-
inal involves a wide range of activities which include the ship operation, quay trans-
fer operations, storage system, gate operations, and so on.
Furthermore, there are sub-operations and management rules. For example, the
transfer operations include the loading operation and the discharge operation, which
ultimately in¯ uence the e ciency of the ship operation. The gate operations include
the receipt and delivery operations, which in¯ uence the e ciency in the gate opera-
tions.
The container yard functions as the storage area, where the export containers are
stored to be loaded and the import boxes are stacked. Consequently, in order to
achieve an e cient operation, there are many operational rules that have to be
followed in the storage system and other major operations.
Thus, it may be said that the container ¯ ow through a terminal is a network of
inter-connecting activities. This sequence of activities is referred to as the `Terminal
System’ , although it is made up of many sub-system parts.
The performance in the terminal operations is in¯ uenced by the operations e -
ciency of all the sub-system parts. It is for this reason that it is essential to investigate
the operation and management of each of the system parts and the relationships of
these. Moreover, there is a nerve centre in the terminal operations that is the con-
tainer yard. From the operational point of view, the storage yard is physically a
bu€ er area for containers transferred in the process of ship associated handling
operations and those associated with land vehicles (or rail vehicles). As a conse-
quence, almost all the terminal operations either originate or are destined from/to
the container yard.
From the viewpoint of terminal management, the storage yard is the area where
planning and control are concentrated. Operations within a container terminal have
the appearance of simplicity, but their complex demands require a high standard of
management. Therefore, the e ciency and quality of management in the container
yard operations will ultimately in¯ uence all the terminal operations.
 Yard operations in the container terminal 29

For terminal operators who have to increase the storage capacity of the terminal
by way of higher container stacking, the operations and management strategies in
the container yard will further demand comprehensive management techniques,
which will ultimately in¯ uence the operations e ciency and operating cost of term-
inal operations as a whole. This is why the study of the terminal operations has to be
focused on the yard operations and management.
Traditionally, terminal operations are organized into three groups and managed
by three duty managers.
• Ship operation managers who organize the stacking of the import containers
and the unstacking of the export containers of the containership to/from the
yard.
• Receipt managers who organize the receipt operation and decide upon the
storage planning for all the export containers received. Their major task is to
ensure that all the export containers are stored in order.
•
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Delivery managers who organize the delivery operation and plan the pro-
cedures to deliver the requested import containers.

4. Management in the yard operations

Whilst the gate and quay transfer operations can be considered as dynamic in nature,
the storage function in the container yard is often considered static. Despite this, the
storage function, is in the fact the dominant operation in determining the e ciency
of the container terminal. The bu€ er function provided by the storage yard helps the
terminal operator provide an e cient quay transfer operation, thus an e cient ship
operation can also be achieved. Because of the bu€ er function provided by the
container yard, the receipt and delivery operations, therefore, can also be e ciently
achieved.
In practice, most containers will not be transferred directly between shipside and
the next link in the transport chain. There could be several reasons, for example,
export boxes may be stored in the yard well in advance of transfer so that the
terminal operator can load them e ciently when the time comes. Therefore, it is
necessary to provide a storage yard at the terminal for the in-transit storage of
containers. The storage system forms a vital link in the transport chain.
However, ine€ ective control and management may result in the storage yard
becoming a barrier or obstacle to the exchange of containers across the sea/land
interface. For example, in the loading operation, the export containers may be
stacked in a disorganized condition, consequently reducing e ciency in the opera-
tion. In the delivery operation, due to out-dated container inventory stored in
the data bank, the control centre may not be able to ® nd the requested import
containers, thus e ciency in the delivery operation will also be seriously a€ ected.
E cient management procedures and operational performance in the storage
system, thus, are essential for the satisfactory completion of other systems’ activities
and to maintain good service quality to the customers of the terminal.

4.1. Export storage management

E€ ective export storage management is vital in order to enable the terminal operator
to achieve an e cient loading operation. It embraces all the preparatory works
which have to be carried out to ensure the operations carried out afterwards are
 30 T. Chen

Figure 1. Procedures involved in export storage management.

achieved e ciently. There are several functions involved in the management of the
export storage area. These are to:

• receive export containers and plan their storage;

• stack them according to their status (loading vessel, discharging ports, weight
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categories and so on), and ensure they are stacked orderly during the period of
storage; and
• plan the export sequence, unstack the export containers according to the
sequence, and transfer them to the quay apron to be loaded into the container-
ship.

As a consequence, an export storage system consists of a series of closely related

operations to achieve its task, such as planning storage, sorting and shuƒ ing opera-
tions and planning loading (as shown in ® gure 1), all of which will be described and
examined in detail in the following sections.

4.1.1. Storage strategies. Owing to the great volume and complexity of the export
containers received, it is a great challenge for terminal operators to e ciently man-
age the boxes received. For example, there could be tens of thousands of export
containers stored in the export yard, and the export containers could belong to
hundreds of di€ erent loading vessels, and there could be tens of discharging ports
for each loading vessel.
In order to manage these containers e ciently and e€ ectively, at least two strat-
egies have been developed for storage planning. The ® rst is the `pre-marshalling’
strategy and the second is the strategy of `sort and store’. The merits and disadvan-
tages of these two strategies are introduced and examined.

(1) There are several steps involved in the `pre-marshalling strategy’; in storage
planning.

• When the export containers are received, they will be assigned to a `tem-
porary storage area’ without consideration of their full status (they may be
stored according to the shipping line or the loading vessel only). The bene® t
of this strategy is that terminal operators do not have to develop complex
operation procedures to stack each accepted export container according to
its status (shipping line, loading vessel, discharge port and so on). Instead, a
simple rule applies to all export containers received, that is to store them in
the `temporary storage area’ and wait for processing to be carried out
afterwards.
 Yard operations in the container terminal 31

Figure 2. Decision tree for export storage planning (sort and store).

• When the con® rmed export list of the containers to be loaded into the
containership has been sent by the shipping lines, yard managers work
from the list received and ® nd these boxes in the `temporary storage
area’. They then devise a storage plan for the export containers which
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are going to be `pre-marshalled’ to the `pre-marshalling’ area. The `pre-

marshalling’ area, most of the time, is assigned near the containership by
the quayside.
• Before the arrival of the containership, e.g. 12 hours before the berthing
time, the export boxes for the containership will be dug out from the
`temporary area’ . Pre-marshalling container movements will be carried
out to stack them in the `pre-marshalling’ area, according to the storage
plan made, awaiting their loading into the containership.
(2) In the planning process of `sort and store strategy’ , there are several pro-
cedures to be undertaken. The main decision tree is illustrated in ® gure 2,
and the procedures are described and examined below.
(a) When the export containers are received, storage should be planned
according to their `status’ and then their storage location assigned. For
example, there are several items in the container information which have
to be considered in the storage planning.

• The ® rst is the shipping line, e.g. boxes of Evergreen Line and Yang
Ming Line should not be stacked mixed.
• The second is the loading vessel, e.g. boxes to be loaded into ship-A
should not be stacked mixed with ship-B.
• The third item is the discharge port, e.g. boxes destined to Hamburg
should not be stacked with those destined for Rotterdam.
• The fourth item is the type of containers, e.g. 20 feet containers should
not be stacked mixed with 40 feet containers.
• The ® fth item is the weight category. According to the storage rules in
the containership, `heavy’ containers should be stored underneath and
`light’ boxes should be stored on top, the major reason for this is to
maintain the stability of the containership. Generally speaking, the
weight of containers is at least divided into three categories, there are
`heavy’ , `medium’ and `light’. Therefore, in the yard storage planning,
`heavy’ boxes should not be stacked mixed with `light’ boxes.
(b) From time to time, the containers stacked in the yard have to be `shuƒ ed’
or `shifted’ to re-organize the storage condition in the yard. In order to
 32 T. Chen

facilitate the loading operation to be carried out afterwards, shifting

moves are carried out to minimize delay by removing containers stacked
in a mixed condition. `Shuƒ ing’ or `shifting’ movements are therefore
undertaken for the following two reasons.
• The ® rst reason is caused by the shortage of storage space, and thus,
some of the export containers received have to be stacked in a mixed
condition. After export containers in the yard are loaded into the con-
tainership, further storage capacity will become available, and the con-
tainers currently stacked in a mixed condition can then be `shuƒ ed’ to
the storage space available and stacked in an ordered condition.
• The second reason is due to changed container `status’ after the export
containers have been stacked in the yard. This happens from time to
time. There are two major reasons for changed status, the ® rst is the
change of loading vessel (COV) and the second is change of port of
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discharge (COD). For example, if shippers want to change the prear-

ranged loading vessel (COV) for their cargoes, it will have to be charged
causing `shifting’ moves in the storage yard to re-position the `status
changed’ boxes into their new storage locations.
(3) Merits and disadvantages of the `pre-marshalling’ and `sort and store’ strat-
egies:
(a) There are advantages and disadvantages to the `pre-marshalling’ strategy
which are illustrated below.
• With regard to the `strategy of `pre-marshalling’, the merit is that the
principles of storage planning are simpli® ed. The export containers of
one loading vessel can be assigned to only one `zone’ for storage. As a
consequence, the stacking height in the storage area can be higher, thus,
saving more ground space for the storage planning of other export
containers.
• The disadvantage of the pre-marshalling strategy is that huge numbers
of `pre-marshalling’ moves have to be taken before the arrival of the
containership. The transfer of the export containers from the `tempor-
ary area’ to the `pre-marshalling area’ also places an additional burden
on terminal operations.
(b) The strategy of `sort and store’ also has its merits and disadvantages.

• The merit of the `sort and store’ strategy is that, compared with the `pre-
marshalling strategy’ , fewer container shuƒ ing moves are needed before
the arrival of the containership. Shuƒ ing moves can be undertaken
during o€ -peak hours, which will not place an additional burden on
terminal operations. Under conditions of good yard management and
close communication with shipping lines and shippers, information
relating to changed container status can be readily obtained by the
terminal operator. The containers with `changed status’, can therefore
be re-positioned within a short time, as a result, stored export con-
tainers can be kept in the most appropriate locations, and then
transferred to the quay apron during the loading operation without
extra shuƒ ing moves.
 Yard operations in the container terminal 33

• The disadvantage is that, in order to sort and store all the export con-
tainers according to their status, a complex storage management system
will be needed. For the purpose of avoiding mixing stored containers of
di€ erent status, numerous ground slots will be needed in storage plan-
ning to accommodate these di€ erences. For example, zones assigned to
the export containers for loading onto `one’ vessel could be 60 zones (as
a result of 10 discharge ports, two container types (20 and 40 ), and
three weight categories), compared to two zones needed in the `pre-
marshalling’ strategy.

4.1.2. Storage planning and management. Well-organized yard management is essen-

tial for terminal operators to achieve e cient storage operations. For example, good
planning will ensure the storage of export containers in the most appropriate loca-
tions. There are several major issues to be considered in storage planning and man-
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agement in the export yard.

(1) Su cient zones assigned for the adequate operation of yard equipment. In order
to achieve an e cient loading operation, the total unstacking e ciency
achieved by yard equipment in the export yard has to be superior to that of
the quay gantry cranes, to ensure maintained e ciency in the ship operation.
For example, in a ship operation using three quay gantry cranes, the export
containers loaded by each quay gantry crane will be unstacked by one or two
di€ erent types of yard equipment (e.g. S/C, RTG or RMG) in the export yard.
Therefore, in planning the storage of the export containers, yard managers
will have to ensure there are su cient zones assigned for adequate numbers of
yard cranes to operate in.
(2) Regulation of the export containers received. Another major task to be under-
taken in the yard management is to analyse the inventory of the export con-
tainers and to evaluate the performance and e€ ectiveness of current storage
policy, to examine whether or not current storage policy is able to adapt to the
categories of export containers received and ensure su cient storage capacity
is assigned for these export containers. For example, under a storage policy of
7 days’ free storage time, only export containers to be loaded within the next 7
days should be accepted by the terminal. However, if it is known that ® ve
containerships will berth at the terminal in the next 7 days, the export contain-
ers stacked in the yard should belong to these ® ve loading ships only.
The function in the receipt operation, therefore, is to ensure that export
containers belong only to those ships acceptable within current receiving
policy. Most of the time, the results of an inventory analysis would reveal
that the export containers stacked in the yard belong to more than ® ve vessels.
As a consequence, the terminal operator should re-examine management pro-
cedures and ® nd out why the receipt operation failed to regulate the numbers
and categories of export containers received. Poor yard management and lack
of control over storage procedures of export containers could be major
reasons reducing the e€ ective utilization of the storage yard.
The second bene® t of storage inventory analysis is to help the terminal
operator assign adequate storage capacity for each loading vessel. Consider,
for example, the storage planning for the export containers of 10 container-
 34 T. Chen

ships. The storage zones needed would be as follows for the `pre-marshalling’
and `sort and store’ strategies.
• If the terminal operators adopted a pre-marshalling strategy, the storage
zones would be 20 [3], each assigned with adequate storage capacity.
• However, under the storage strategy of `sort-and-store’, the storage zones
needed for 10 loading vessels would be more than those for the `pre-mar-
shalling’ strategy. In the process of planning storage for the 10 loading
vessels, the storage zones should be assigned according to container status
(e.g. 20 and 40 ), the ports of discharge (on average six PODs) and weight
ranges (at least three weight ranges). As a consequence, the zones needed
would be at least 360, as shown below.

10 (ships) 2 (types) 6 (PODs) 3 (weight categories)= 360 (zones)

In the case of a one berth terminal, the export storage capacity available
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would be 732 TGSs or 2196 TEUs. In other words, each zone could only
have the storage capacity of around 2 TGS or 6 TEUs. Therefore, owing to
the shortage of storage capacity, export containers of later loading vessels
would have to be stacked mixed, and take the storage space set aside for
incoming vessels. As a consequence, shuƒ ing moves would have to be
undertaken to sort and reposition them afterwards when storage capacity
become available.
(3) As a conclusion, the major issue of concern in yard management is the ability
to regulate the number and categories of export containers received based on
the receiving policy made by terminal operators. Only when the receipt of the
export containers is regulated can the number of boxes stacked in a mixed
condition, as a result of shortage of storage capacity, be lowered. Also, the
export boxes received could then enjoy su cient storage capacity. The shuf-
¯ ing or shifting moves, carried out afterwards to keep the stacking condition
in sequential order, could also be reduced to a minimum.

4.2. Import storage management

The major task in import storage management is to stack the discharged import
containers in the yard e ciently then, afterwards, to deliver them from the import
yard to the inland hauliers also e ciently.
Import storage operations consist of a series of closely related operations, such as
the planning for receiving the anticipated import containers (which have been sent
from the quayside), housekeeping operations which make room available for the
storage and stacking of the import containers and delivery operations (as shown in
® gure 3).

4.2.1. Import storage rules. In the discharge operation, huge numbers of import
containers will be discharged from the containership and stacked in the yard.
These anticipated import containers normally cannot be delivered immediately.
While noti® cations are being sent to consignees, documentation has to be completed
and procedures such as customs inspections need to be undertaken. As a conse-
quence, the expected import boxes will have to be stacked in the yard for a period
of time until they have been cleared through all the other procedures. As for other
 Yard operations in the container terminal 35

Figure 3. Procedures of import storage management.

import containers stacked in the yard, such procedures with regard to these have
already been completed, they are therefore ready to be delivered.
However, if the anticipated import containers (which are not ready for delivery
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and are discharged from the incoming vessel) have to be stacked above (or mixed
with) the previously stacked containers (which are ready for delivery), at the time the
previously stacked containers are requested for delivery, shifting moves will become
inevitable to gain access to the stacked boxes requested. As a result, segregation in
planning the storage location of `anticipated import containers’ and `stacked import
containers’ becomes necessary. Consequently, the `anticipated import containers’
should be stacked in separate blocks (where no other import boxes are stacked) to
avoid mixed storage with the previously stacked import containers.
Another factor to be considered in import storage planning is the stacking height
of the import containers stacked in the yard. In practice, there is a direct relationship
between the stacking height and the number of shift moves of containers taken in the
delivery operation in the import storage area [4]. Therefore, if import containers are
stacked higher, the e ciency of the delivery operation carried out afterwards will
su€ er from high numbers of shift moves taken.
In strategically planning storage, lower stacking is thus preferred, because the
number of shift moves carried out in the delivery operation afterwards can be
lowered and e ciency improved. Yard managers, therefore, have to make a balance
between the storage capacity available for storage planning, the planned stacking
height of the anticipated import containers (avoidance of high stacking) in their
storage planning of the import containers.
In conclusion, poor storage planning in relation to the anticipated import con-
tainers will cause a mixed storage condition of import containers. This factor, when
combined with the impact of higher container stacking, will necessitate more shift
moves and reduce e ciency of operations in the import area (e.g. delivery opera-
tion).

4.2.2. Preparatory work in the discharge operation. The objective of the preparatory
work for stacking the import containers is to acquire enough storage capacity before
the discharge operation commences. Therefore, during the discharge operation itself,
no housekeeping moves will need to be undertaken to acquire the storage space
required, and an e cient discharge operation will be maintained.
In planning the procedures for the storage of the anticipated import containers,
there are several steps to be taken, which are described below:
 36 T. Chen

(1) The ® rst step is to discover the number of the anticipated import boxes which
are to be discharged and stacked in the yard. This information is obtained
from the shipping lines several days before the arrival of the containership.
The information will include several items:

• the number of import containers to be discharged and stacked in the yard;

• the number of the types of containers (e.g. 20 feet, 40 feet and over-dimen-
sional) to be discharged; and
• the storage position of these import containers in the containership.

(2) The second step is to examine the condition of the storage areas in the import
yard and pre-plan necessary arrangements and procedures in advance for the
storage space required. Owing to the fact that, generally, the import con-
tainers will be discharged by more than one quay crane, several zones with
su cient storage capacity will need to be assigned for storage. This will allow
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several yard cranes to stack the anticipated import containers simultaneously

and e ciently. The e ciency in the quay transfer operation will thus be
maintained, without being delayed by the yard operation (discharge opera-
tion);
(3) The third step is to set aside blocks available for storage. If there are no blocks
with su cient storage capacity available, housekeeping moves will have to be
taken to re-position boxes already in stack to make the necessary storage
space available.

All of these steps should be completed before the ship operation commences.
Terminals lacking good planning procedures for the storage of import boxes will
® nd it di cult to maintain an e cient discharge operation. For example, a shortage
of storage capacity during the discharge operation will force yard managers either to
stack the discharged containers on top of previously stacked containers or deploy
yard cranes to re-position the stacked containers to acquire the storage capacity
needed during the discharge operation.
The former course will cause more shift moves later on in the delivery operation.
The latter course will interrupt current stacking operations in the import areas, and
reduce the e ciency of the discharge operation and quay transfer operation.

5. Conclusions
This paper has attempted to lay the foundation for future research in terminal
operations by providing a systematic approach to the study of yard operations in
detail. The major thought developed in this paper has included a systematic
approach to the terminal system which provides a cornerstone for the empirical
study of the terminal operations.
In addition, from the viewpoint of yard management, several major factors which
in¯ uence operational e ciency and cause `unproductive container movements’ in
terminal operations have been distinguished by way of the systematic approach.
These factors include the following.

• Terminal management strategy. The `pre-marshalling strategy’ in the receipt

operation is an example. Huge numbers of `pre-marshalling’ moves are taken
after the export containers have been received.
 Yard operations in the container terminal 37

• Shortage of storage capacity. Take the receipt operation for example, owing to
shortage of storage space, some containers received may be stacked in a mixed
condition, thus causing `shuƒ ing’ or `shift’ moves afterwards.
• Poor quality of container information received. The preparatory work taken
before the loading operation is an example. Owing to the poor quality of
container information received, container stacks may have to be re-organized
again before the loading operation commences, to ensure an e cient loading
operation is achieved.
• Operational rules. The preparatory work taken before the discharge operation
is an example. Owing to operational rules, housekeeping moves may have to
be taken to make storage capacity available for the anticipated import con-
tainers.
• Higher container storage. The `shift’ moves taken in the delivery operation are
an example.
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In summary, `higher container stacking’ did have a serious impact on the number
of unproductive moves carried out, and the major impact was on the delivery
operation.
If terminal operators could maintain a good quality of container information
received, with improved terminal management, they could well reduce the
impact of higher container stacking on the other terminal operations (e.g. the
discharge, loading and receipt operations) to a minimum. In other words, terminal
operators who attempt to increase the land productivity by way of higher container
stacking have to improve all the other relevant conditions at the same time, in
order to reduce the possible impacts of higher container stacking on the terminal
operations. If not, higher container stacking, combined with poor container
information received and inadequate terminal management, will create huge
numbers of unproductive container movements having to be carried out in the
terminal operations, reducing the operations e ciency and increasing the operating
cost.

Acknowledgments
The author is grateful to the valuable assistance from the members of sta€ of the
following terminal operators for collecting the various aspects of the yard operations
and terminal management.
Kaohsiung: OOCL Terminal, Yang Ming Terminal, Wan Hai Terminal, Maersk
Terminal, Evergreen Terminal, Sea-Land Terminal;
Hong Kong: Hong Kong International Terminals Limited (HIT);
Korea: Shinsundae Container Terminal, Pusan; and
UK: Trinity Terminal, Port of Felixstowe.
An early version of this paper has been presented at KaoPort 21, 1998
International Conference on Shipping Development & Port Management, Title:
Terminal operationsÐ a systematic approach, The Ambassador Hotel, Kaohsiung,
Taiwan, March 1998.

Notes and References

1. Chen, T. (1998 ), Land utilization of the container terminal: a global perspective.
Maritime Policy & Management, 25 (4), 289± 303.
 38 Yard operations in the container terminal

2. Higher land utilization should be understood as higher container stacking in the container
yard.
3. The export containers have to be stacked according to their loading vessel and `type’ of
container, for example, 20 ft and 40 ft. Therefore, the zones needed would be 10
(vessels) 2 (types, 20 & 40 )= 20 (at least).
4. Frankel , E. G. (1987 ), Port Planning and Development (New York: Wiley), p. 180.
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