Location Selection of Dry Port based on AP Clustering - The Case of SouthWest China

Due to the increasing freight volumes passing via seaports checkpoints, and increasingly reported delays in customs clearance procedure, dry port, emerged as one kind of solution to such situation, instead of extending the port scale under limited land use. The place located with dry port (sometimes inland port) can solve not only the congestion embarrassment faced by connected seaport, but also can improve economic development of the hinterland by integrating the logistics network and ameliorating the access between dry port and seaport. Hence, the location planning of dry port has been a pivot in this research field. In this paper, AP (Affinity Propagation) Clustering method is proposed to solve this location problem of dry port (number and location), and it is applied in a case study which is to select the optimal dry port location for Shanghai port from its 8 hinterland provinces. And the result that Hunan province is chosen to be the optimal dry port construction location is being proved credible with AP Clustering method in this paper.