Optimizing Port Terminal Vehicle Scheduling for Containership Berth Operations

This paper presents a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model for scheduling container handling activities at maritime terminals. The model coordinates the assignment and sequencing of trailers and reach stackers for both import and export containers, synchronizing the vehicles’ operation to minimize waiting time. Computational experiments show that the model generates optimal schedules across various instance sizes. While small and medium instances are solved within a reasonable amount of time, larger instances exhibit increased computation time due to the problem’s combinatorial complexity. These results validate the model as a reliable foundation for vehicle scheduling in terminal environments and emphasize the need for more scalable solution approaches.