A model optimizing the port-hinterland logistics of containers: The case of the Campania region in Southern Italy

This article presents an optimization model for the economic analysis and strategic planning of port-hinterland container logistics systems. The model was employed to investigate the inland multimodal distribution of import/export containers handled at the seaports located in the Campania region of Southern Italy. The loading units can transit through the regional off-dock intermodal and logistic facilities called ‘interports’, as well as through extra-regional locations which have a railway terminal, before reaching the final inland destinations or the seaports. The model mainly aims at highlighting and measuring possible advantages arising both from shifting the seaport exit/entry of containers to regional interports, and from employing intermodal solutions for inland distribution. The programming problem minimizes the sum of all container-related generalized logistic costs throughout the entire multimodal port-hinterland network. The logistic costs include transportation costs (by road and railway), terminal handling and storage costs, customs control costs, in-transit inventory holding costs and container leasing costs. A numerical prototype has been formulated and solved using a high-level programming language for large-scale mathematical optimization problems. The results demonstrate how the competitiveness of the regional container seaport cluster can be boosted by an interport-based extended gateway system with adequate customs facilities and improved railway connections.