AN OVERVIEW OF EMPTY CONTAINER REPOSITIONING PROBLEM

Containerization is considered as one of the most remarkable improvements in the shipping. Containerization has gained popularity due to its inherent advantages of supporting inter-modal transport, additional safety of goods, cost effectiveness and faster speed of transportation. Container fleets have been increasing dramatically to ensure availability and in response to the imbalance of trade. The impact of container inventory mounts a substantial pressure on global supply chain. More precisely, the researchers are interested in the problems related to the management of full containers as well as the repositioning of empty containers. Therefore areas such as cost control, inventory level optimization, forecasting future demand requirements and optimizing container repositioning expenses need concentration. Thus the problems faced in the container allocation and management have been discussed and these problems form the vital part of the containers logistics and supply chain. This paper aims at presenting an overview of empty container repositioning problem. It attempts to review the relevant literatures and to identify the factors causing the need for repositioning