The paper presents the issue of container handling processes at a railroad intermodal terminal. The main purpose of this paper is the assessment of the handling equipment utilization and the associated energy consumption. The authors analyze how the road vehicle availability at the moment specified in the containers loading schedule influences the total handling equipment operation time as well as the necessary number of handling equipment. It is assumed that vehicles planned for loading of import containers may be late for loading, which causes some interruptions in the loading schedule. Such interruptions are identified with the necessity to handle the next container for which the road vehicle is already waiting, which influences the handling equipment utilization and, finally, energy consumption. The general mathematical model of the problem developed in the FlexSim simulation software was presented. Based on the simulation research, it pointed out that proper road vehicles loading sequencing can significantly reduce handling equipment operation time, and thus energy consumption, costs, and CO₂ emissions. The literature analysis presented in the paper indicates that most of the research in the field of intermodal transport is focused on operations optimization in container ports. There are differences between two types of intermodal terminals in operation procedures and rules. That is why the authors decided to undertake the problem of road vehicle sequencing including their random availability and its influence on handling device operation time, which has not been considered in the literature so far.

The article presents the issue of container handling processes at a rail-road intermodal terminal. In the article, we have focused on the problem of a terminal layout design from the point of view of parking lots for external trucks. The main purpose of this article is the assessment of the necessary parking lots for the trucks considering daily turnover of containers and the trucks appointment time windows. We analyze how the length of the truck’s appointment time windows as well as the difficulties in containers loading operations and a number of handling equipment influence the necessary parking lots for trucks in the intermodal terminal. The trucks planned for loading of import containers may arrive at the terminal before the loading moment that is specified in crane operations schedule. The container handling time is given by a probability distribution. The equations defining the most important elements of the considered problem were presented in the general form. The special case of this model has been developed in the FlexSim simulation software. Based on the simulation research and calculations we pointed out that right truck’s appointment time windows can significantly reduce necessary parking lots at the yard. The literature analysis presented in the article indicates that most of the research in the field of intermodal terminal is focused on operations in container ports. There is lack of literature considering rail-road terminal layout planning in terms of the necessary parking lots and truck’s appointment time windows.