Overbooking and delivery-delay-allowed strategies for container slot allocation

Abstract

Due to uncontrollable markets and unreliable factors in liner container shipping industry, the deviation between the actual and estimated shipment demand of containers always exists, resulting in a waste of shipping capacity or unfulfilled shipping requirements. To tackle such a slot allocation problem, this paper proposes overbooking (OB) and delivery-postponed (DP) strategies to maximize profits. Then, two corresponding multi-period models are developed and solution algorithms are presented. Finally, several numerical experiments are carried on to show the applicability of the proposed models and solution algorithms. The results indicate that the OB and DP strategies can promote the profit.