The connection of a container terminal to its hinterland is a key area for competition. Therefore, more and more attention is paid to the service quality of inland transport modes such as trucks, trains and barges. An effcient allocation of internal material handling resources and the use of new strategies, such as truck appointment systems, can reduce the time vehicles spend at the terminal. We propose a mixed integer linear programming model, based on a network flow representation of the terminal, to determine the number of appointments to accept per time slot and an allocation of internal resources minimizing service times of trains and barges simultaneously. By comparing container terminals with and without appointment systems, we show that a truck appointment system is beneficial for trucks as well as for trains and barges.
