The effects of dry ports on inland container logistics

The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the effects of dry ports on inlandcontainer logistics in Turkey. The research process of this thesis has been designedin two parts. In the first part, stated choice experimentation has been used toevaluate how the variations in the attributes affect mode selection probabilities inthe inland transportation corridor. The results of the stated choice experimenthave shown that all of the attributes except transport time attribute is statisticallysignificant. Additionally, the random coefficient mixed logit estimate has providedbetter model fit than the conditional logit estimate has. The elasticity analysis hasindicated that the transportation cost attribute has the most substantial impacton the mode choice. In the second part, how the variations in inland transportation serviceattributes affect dry port usage and inland container logistics using discrete eventsimulation modeling has been investigated. The impact of rail-based dry portsusage on inland container logistics depends on how well the shippers' preferencesare met. The increase in the use of rail-based dry ports, in any case, reduces theton-km of road transport. This can reduce the environmental impacts. However,the decline in total inland container transportation costs is depend on the waysto increase demand to rail-based dry port use. When the usage of rail-baseddry port is increased by lowering the cost of the rail-based dry port, the totalinland container logistics costs are reduced. Additionally, increasing the demand for rail-based dry port usage by reducing the percentage of delayed shipmentsalso decreases total inland container logistics costs. However, if the demand forthe dry port is increased by increasing road transportation costs, the total inlandcontainer logistics costs are increased. The frequency of railway transport betweendry port and seaport also has a significant impact on the inland container logistics.When the demand for rail-based dry port increases, it is necessary to increasethe carrying capacity by increasing the frequency of the railway transportation tomeet the demand. Scientific contribution of this thesis is twofold. First, previous research hasbeen extended by including aspects which are neglected. Preferences of potentialdry port users have been took into account while analyzing the effects of dry portusage. Not only transportation cost has been considered as the determinant ofinland transport mode choice, but also delays, transit time, frequency and free timehave been considered. Additionally, the impacts of increasing dry port demandon railway capacity has been revealed.