Emergence and significance of dry ports

Licentiate thesis, 2006

With increasing maritime containerized transport, efficient seaport terminals and inland access are essential for the entire intermodal transportation chain to function. Improvement only in maritime transport and in seaport terminals without improvements in seaport inland access is not sufficient since a growth in the sea flow implies an almost proportional increase in the inland flow. Therefore, implementation of rail for connecting seaports with their hinterland through inland terminals would be the strategic decision. Inland terminals are of major importance for the efficiency of intermodal transport and for the efficiency of seaport inland access. This thesis deals with the dry port concept. The concept is based on a seaport directly connected by rail to inland intermodal terminals, where shippers can leave and/or collect their goods in intermodal loading units as if directly at the seaport. The seaport and the inland terminals, here denoted as dry ports, are connected with high capacity traffic modes, such as rail, rather than only with road. In addition to the transhipment that a conventional inland intermodal terminal provides, services such as storage, consolidation, depot, maintenance of containers, and customs clearance are usually available at dry ports. The purpose of the thesis is to present the dry port concept, to elaborate the dry port benefits from the perspectives of different actors of the system, and to identify and categorize existing and potential dry ports for the Port of Göteborg. Furthermore, the concept is evaluated from an environmental perspective using modelling and simulation on the case of the Port of Göteborg.