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A Novel Operation Mode for Container Terminal with Changeable Intermodal Transport Demand: Distribution, Flexibility, and Reentrancy

  • Wenfeng Li 1,2,   
  • Lingchong Zhong 3,*,   
  • Lijun He 1,   
  • Wenjing Guo 1

Received: 14 Jan 2026 | Revised: 03 Apr 2026 | Accepted: 08 Apr 2026 | Published: 10 Jun 2026

Abstract

The operation mode of loading, unloading, and transshipment (LUT) is of great importance in managing/configuring resources and scheduling container tasks to maximize the operational efficiency of intermodal container terminals (ICTs). In the
past decade, terminals have typically adopted a traditional operation mode, mainly the hybrid flow shop mode with fixed routing and non-reentrant processing, for container task operations. However, this mode cannot adequately meet the variable intermodal container transshipment demands, nor provide optimal transshipment routes to cope with the flexible intermodal transport needs. This study constructs a novel Distributed Parallel Flexible Operation Mode with Reentrant Equipment (DPFOM-RE) for ICTs, which includes three components: distributed multi-parallel operations, flexible LUT routes, and reentrant equipment. Based on DPFOM-RE, ICTs can efficiently handle different intermodal container tasks (e.g., import/export and transshipment containers) simultaneously via multiple transshipment routes. In addition, a generic LUT management framework is proposed. A simulation case is conducted and the results show that DPFOM-RE outperforms the traditional mode in terms of makespan, average handling frequency per container, and turnover rate of internal trucks. The benefits for stakeholders are demonstrated, and future research directions are discussed.

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DOI
10.53941/jaia.2026.100010
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Volume 1, Issue 2
How to Cite
Li, W.; Zhong, L.; He, L.; Guo, W. A Novel Operation Mode for Container Terminal with Changeable Intermodal Transport Demand: Distribution, Flexibility, and Reentrancy. Journal of Artificial Intelligence for Automation 2026, 1 (2), 10. https://doi.org/10.53941/jaia.2026.100010.
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