Port of Tallinn is developing a Virtual Queue Management Service for Ports

Port of Tallinn has started a pilot project with the aim of developing a virtual queue management service for ports of Tallinn in Estonia and Trieste in Italy. The Queue Management Service will manage the arrival of heavy-goods vehicles entering the port through a Just-In-Time process based on a virtual queue concept. The service will generate profit for the port community by decreasing vehicles’ waiting time and parking needs, and by improving the efficiency of the port hinterland connection. 

The Virtual Queue Management Service is an adaptation of the successful Queue Management Service for border crossing points developed by GoSwift and operated in Estonia, Lithuania and Finland. “The main challenge of the project will be to re-design the service, adapt it to the port context and adjust the value proposition,” said Hele-Mai Metsal, the Head of Port of Tallinn’s Development Department.

 

“The objective of the Queue Management Service for ports is similar as in air traffic flow management: a truck should not be allowed in the area near the harbour in case it does not have a confirmed time slot and registration to perform an activity with a terminal. Once the confirmed registration is done, the truck may drive to the port at a given time. Since most of registration data will be transferred in advance, the stopping time at the ports gates will be limited to a strict minimum,” described Mrs. Metsal.

 

Mrs. Metsal added that “in case of high demand, the trucks will be given a slot in the virtual queue and are requested to wait outside the urban area, to prevent congestion and traffic around the port. Due to the virtuality of the queue, the truck may take it into account when planning the trip, or wait at any appropriate location until the slot is free. Information about time slot and position in the virtual queue are given in real-time.”

 

Project partners are GoSwift and Port of Tallinn from Estonia, AutoLogs S.r.l. and Port Authority of Trieste from Italy and Movelle from Greece. The consortium partners have applied for the co-finance from Horizon 2020 program.

 

The duration of the Queue Management Service pilot project is 2016-2017.

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