Review of Dry Ports

Journal article, 2010

The objective of the paper is to present the previous research on the dry port concept and to review the world’s existing dry ports, i.e. freight terminals that use the term “dry port” in their name. Therefore the purpose of the paper is to clarify the concept by showing potential discrepancies or agreements between the theory and practice. Starting from a literature review on the dry port concept, this study presents a review of existing dry ports in the world. A number of qualitative criteria regarding the range of services at dry ports or its features could be theoretically established, although the same may vary depending on the customers’ demand. However, the ultimate purpose of the dry ports is the same, irrespective of that range. This paper contributes to the study of dry ports by synthesizing a literature review on the subject of dry ports; moreover, it provides an overview of dry ports in the world; and as such makes a contribution to the scarce research on dry port concept.