Simulation of Port Disruption and Transportation Resources for U.S. Containerized Imports

This paper investigates the feasible paths before and during port disruptions on the West Coast of the United States using discrete event simulation. A discrete-event simulation application experiments with different regulations, disruptions, and infrastructure changes to show future dynamics by investment and planning events for operational decisions. The simulation conducts partially and fully disrupted scenarios comparing to the current operations. The output from the simulation highlights the significance of the impact from a long -term disruption, while the short-term disruption in the supply chain would need resilience with a quick response time to allow the system to recover. The long-term disruption scenario recommendation is to immediately divert the flow to the neighboring infrastructure, which has similar and excess capacity. The short-term disruption scenario requires a decision-making process based on the diversion time and cost, and the search process required for finding the neighboring ports and landside resources that are capable to handle the extra freights. Thus, the partially disrupted scenario does not recommend diverting to other neighboring infrastructure. Supply chain planners will benefit from the study as it contributes to finding alternative solutions and diversified strategies for the U.S. container markets through fully developed intermodal services.