Modeling the Truck Appointment System as a Multi-Player Game

Background: Random truck arrivals at maritime container terminals are one of the primary reasons for gate congestion. Gate congestion negatively affects terminal’s and drayage firms’ productivity surrounding communities in terms air pollution noise. To alleviate congestion, more USA utilizing a appointment system (TAS). Methods: This paper proposes novel approach to modeling problem. Unlike previous studies which largely treated this problem as single-player game, study explicitly models interplay between terminal firms with regard appointments. A multi-player bi-level programming model is proposed, where functions leader upper-level function followers lower-level. The objective (the terminal) minimize waiting cost trucks by spreading out arrivals, (drayage firms) their own cost. make tractable, transformed single-level replacing lower-level its equivalent Karush–Kuhn–Tucker (KKT) conditions solved finding Stackelberg equilibrium one-shot simultaneous-moves among players. For comparison purposes, version TAS also developed. Results: Experimental results indicate that proposed yields lower gate-waiting compared model, it higher savings number appointments per increases. Moreover, solution not dependent on coefficients, unlike single player model. Conclusions: demonstrates effective if considers how assigned slot truck’s It recommended operators port authorities initiate conversations providers about incorporating element into TAS.