Flow of Terminal Operations: Redefining Operational Control

How much more efficient could your teams be if they could see every move as it happens, and act on it immediately? For many terminal operators, this question is no longer theoretical. The answer lies in the next wave of operational control: cloud-based digital twins that let users see, understand, and manage performance at every level, helping control room users identify and remedy problems at the source in real-time.

When Terminals are running operations with tractor trailer (TT) fleets, the entire system hinges on one thing: flow. Performance depends on how fluidly tractor trailers are positioned at the ship-to-shore (STS) cranes, how quickly they’re able to move containers to the stack, and how efficiently they return to repeat the process. If tractor trailers experience delays at the stack or are not in position for the STS, productivity drops, moves per hour decline, and vessel departure is delayed. But what if you knew exactly where every TT was at all times? What if delays were visible to operators the moment they occurred, or before they even happened?

This kind of insight allows operators to react immediately. Operators can check in with a driver, identify the source of delay and dispatch a replacement if needed, resulting in fewer disruptions, smoother operations, and less uncertainty across the supply chain. Creating the environment for a fast, efficient supply chain is the key to increasing customer satisfaction and reducing costs.

Efficiency across the terminal is non-negotiable. From forecasting demand and planning vessel arrivals to stacking, storage, and throughput at the gate and rail, each stage must operate in sync. However, with disruptions being a daily reality, operators must find a way to remain agile when problems arise.

Staying agile requires a full ecosystem of technologies, such as Terminal Operating Systems (TOS), equipment control systems, GPS, OCR, gate systems, and more. But with these systems often operating in silos, the data they generate cannot be easily combined to present a full picture for the user. To make real-time decisions, operators need a complete unified operational view that can consolidate and contextualize this data and show where the problems are coming from.

A connected TT, for example, can tell us how long a move takes and where the trailer is located. Using this data, users can clearly see whether the next move is on time or will be delayed. With smart workflows and a digital twin, control room teams gain a clear picture of both the forest and the trees, tracking macro-level trends while diving into the smallest operational detail.

This connected view also enables operators to replay and review past operations. By combining data across systems, users can discover previously hidden inefficiencies such as planning strategies or execution parameters that impacted vessel turnaround time. What once required hours of analysis across separate tools is now visible in one clear interface.

When you empower control teams and continuous improvement teams to identify and act on root causes in real time, the whole process improves. Operational flow becomes smoother, decisions become smarter, shippers receive freight on time, and operators reduce both cost and emissions. And the potential goes even further; consider the impact of reducing unladen vehicle traffic, which often accounts for up to a third of transport costs and a significant portion of CO₂ emissions. In a terminal running 100+ TTs per vessel visit, the environmental and economic savings add up fast.

The holy grail of the supply chain has always been total transparency, knowing where your cargo, containers, and equipment are at any given moment. With digital twins, embedded sensors, advanced workflows, and increasingly intelligent platforms, that reality is now finally within reach.

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