Scheduling commercial vehicle queues at a Canada–US border crossing

Using the context of queue operations at a major Canada–US commercial border crossing for truck-borne trade flows, we report on a computer simulation study to predict the likely impacts of smoothing those flows. We quantify the operational and resource efficiencies of smoothing for trans-border trucking companies and their trans-border supply chain partners as well as for government authorities with regulatory jurisdiction at border crossings. Our study’s major conclusion is that smoothing can achieve queue performance levels that, in the absence of smoothing, would require significant investment in truck processing capacity at border crossings.

► We model queueing systems for commercial trucks at an international border. ► We quantify the effects of smoothing truck arrival patterns at the border. ► Smoothing yields efficiencies in trans-border logistics and border capacity investment. ► The improvements are greater when truck arrival patterns are more erratic. ► Trucks with longer average processing times benefit more from smoothing.