Assessing the performance of intermodal city logistics terminals in Thessaloniki

Abstract

This paper presents a comparative analysis of two urban intermodal freight transport terminals focusing on last mile distribution: the port of Thessaloniki (ThPA) and Kuehne + Nagel (K+N) distribution center in Thessaloniki. Through the pairwise comparison of the two different supply chain interchanges, a decision support tool is provided to the terminals’ operators and their customers and partners, namely shippers, forwarders, transport companies, users or customers. The evaluation of the terminals’ performance is elaborated based on a tailored multi criteria Key Performance Indicator (KPI)-based assessment framework, while the selection and significance (weight) of the incorporated criteria and respective KPIs is predetermined by the involved stakeholders through a multi stakeholder participation scheme using the pairwise comparison according to the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach. ThPA terminal is ranked first according to its performance pertaining to the role of an intermodal interchange for the wider geographical area of Thessaloniki, however K+N terminal’s performance index was slightly lower, while in several KPIs and criteria it seems to perform better. © 2017.