Freight Planning and Aviation Stream

1. Port Related Transport
Planning and Modelling
Laurie Piggott Consulting Pty Ltd

2. Items to be covered
1. Cross discipline communication to achieve a
comprehensive understanding between operators,
transport planners and land planners.
2. Understanding the effect of operational constraints on
freight movement to and from the port (the total logistics
chain).
3. Simple description of the landside supply chain elements.
4. The key role played by stevedore terminals and inland
transfer hubs.

3. Communication across Skill Based
Boundaries
• Generally speaking cross boundary communication is
not good except in organisations such as the Freight
and Logistics Council and the WA Port Operations Task
Force (POTF).
• POTF is an independent stakeholder group hosted by
the Fremantle Port Authority with membership that
includes the FPA, F&LC, Stevedores, Empty Container
Park Operators, Truck Operators, WARTA, Rail
Operators, Brokers, Customs, Australian Quarantine
and Inspection Services (AQIS), Main Roads etc.

4. WA Port Operations Taskforce (POTF)
Day to day issues and strategic matters are discussed at
regular monthly meetings. Operational problems are
presented, discussed and very often resolved by
compromise or by development of creative options.
Sub committees are formed to work through more difficult
or strategic issues.
It is also a forum for presentation of papers by members
or invited guests.
This is an excellent group to obtain an understanding of
port related operations.

5. How I gradually learned about linking
operations with Infrastructure Planning
1960 to 1990 (limited operations knowledge)
Civil Engineering Design Draftsman, full time Uni., Civil
Engineer (subdivision development) and local government
engineer.
1990 to 2008 (expanding operations knowledge)
Westrail and PTA – Urban Station Planning (includes
working with bus ops), Land Management, Freight
Planning, Intermodal Terminal Development (rail to road
ops).

6. Linking operations with Infrastructure
Planning (cont.)
2008 to 2018 (includes port related operations
experience)
Laurie Piggott Consulting engaged by FPA in the
redevelopment of Rous Head and as the part time
Executive Officer with the WA Port Operations Task Force
from 2010 to 2014.
This experience provided a link to earlier experience in
infrastructure planning and development and an
understanding of the port and freight related technical
languages.

7. Container Supply Chain
 Container description and movement.
 Empty Container Parks.
 The complexity of the Container Supply Chain.
 Intermodal Terminals and Road Transport Depots
(Freight Hubs).
 Land Use Planning and Infrastructure Development.

8. Containers
 Are owned by shipping lines
 Come in different lengths (20 and 40 ft) and heights
 Are set up for different products (standard, food grade,
reefer, dry storage, open top and various door locations).
 Therefore limited opportunities for easy reallocation from
import to export use (empty trucks entering or leaving the
port).
 Supply chain and infrastructure solutions continue to be
developed.

9. Empty Container Parks
 Contracted by shipping lines who define when empties must
be returned to the port and from which Container Park.
 ECPs do more than store; their major functions are to:
 Survey, clean and repair containers on behalf of shipping lines;
and
 Coordinate movement of the various container types mostly to
receive import dehire, reassignment to exporters or relocate
excess empties overseas (bulk runs to stevedores).

10. Container stacking in an ECP

11. Container Movement
1. Import Movement: Transport full from Stevedore to
importer.
2. Empty Container Park: Receives empty from importer
(dehire) and inspects, cleans and repairs as necessary;
then allocates to exporter or relocates overseas via
transfer to Stevedore (bulk runs).
3. Triangulation (rare movement) –importer transfers empty
direct to exporter.
4. Export Movement: Full from exporter to Stevedore or
relocation of empty from ECP to overseas (bulk runs).

13. Supply Chain Restrictions
 Terminals must clear their decks due to the limited
window to unload and load vessels.
 Therefore there is a time limit for importers to return
empty import boxes to ECPs.
 Leads to competition between trucks for Terminal slots
due to restrictions on the time containers can be held
on the wharf.
 Difficult to coordinate slot bookings at the Terminal
(1Stop) and the ECP (ContainerChain) and to reduce
empty truck running.

14. Container Supply Chain (1)

15. Container Supply Chain (2)

16. Inland Restrictions on Port Operations
Many imports are distributed to small sites that require
sidelifter or smaller trucks for load/unload and that are
open from 8am to 5pm 6 days per week.
Due to limited vessel berth time Stevedores must operate
well beyond this period necessitating provision of inland
transport hubs to keep port operations going.
This requires large trucks to transport from the port during
extended time periods and smaller trucks to distribute to
local areas during the short day time periods.

17. Large truck being loaded

18. Container dropped on verge by sidelifter

19. Unofficial Transfer Hub

20. Example of very small industrial lots

21. Benefits of Inland Intermodal
Terminals and Transport Hubs
Relieves pressure on Port by:
 Providing off Port full container storage.
 Open outside of normal business hours to allow
extended port operating times.
 Providing large sites for rail and efficient large capacity
trucks operating from the Port.
 Allowing transfer to trucks that can unload at small
importer sites (small table top or sidelifter)
 Association with a local (inland) ECP.

22. Freight Hub Examples
The following slides are photographs of operations at the
Kewdale interstate intermodal terminal where containers
are transferred across the boundary to a road depot
transport hub.
The methodology of this rail to road transfer also applies
to a road to road transfer.

23. Kewdale Toll Transfer Hub

29. Planning and Transport Modelling for
Infrastructure Development
Land use planning and Transport Modelling for the Supply
Chain should:
 Have an understanding of Supply Chain operations.
 Facilitate efficient operations including how and where to
provide road/road transport hubs, end of line rail facilities
and empty container parks.
 Create suitable and sufficiently large industrial lots in the
right locations (structure plan design).
 Identify and protect transport corridors suitable for rail and
heavy road vehicles.