Research Of Optimization Model On The Allocation Of Empty Containers Under Intermodal Transport System

With international trade imbalance, caused imbalance of import and export container volumes and types around the world, caused a large amount of rental costs and transportation costs. Improvement of efficient of empty container allocation and the utilization of their own empty container are vital to the development of the shipping companies, so empty container allocation problem become a hot academic research at domestic and abroad. But the current of the sea-land intermodal empty container reposition problem research is not mature enough, with the development of door-to-door service, intermodal empty container reposition problem has become more important.From the point of the shipping companies’view, taking account of empty container reposition problem due to the trade imbalance, by integrating the logistics optimization method, uncertainty theory, system simulation method and so on, develop a intermodal logistics optimization model for allocation of empty containers and key to solve the model.The study employed a two-stage model, priority to meet the needs of deterministic empty containers, and then to meet the random demand of empty containers, set up transportation capacity limitations and rent restrictions of the container volumes.It is more in line with the reality. Finally, putting forward a numerical example, instructed that the influence of total cost of the empty container reposition by selection of the length of the planning period and the rate changeable.The results show that, selecting of appropriate length of the planning period is helpful to develop a rational and efficient allocation of empty containers decision-making strategy, to achieve the purpose of control container management costs for shipping companies. In the same time, the shipping companies should pay attention to controlling the cost of leasing and the cost of empty container reposition,as far as possible by improving the efficiency of the allocation of their own empty containers to meet the demand for empty containers.This paper will provide useful theoretical support and methods for shipping companies to optimize the overall operating costs of empty containers.With input of specific parameters, we can get intermodal transporting strategy, leasing strategy and storage strategy, these will be useful to auxiliary support shipping companies’ actual formulation of container allocation strategy. This paper has some practical significance.