Jeffrey Karafa - University of Memphis

3.3 Physical attributes of the Paramics simulation
The first step in developing the simulation model was to establish an accurate
representation of the roadway network in the vicinity of the PNE. The following section
describes the physical attributes of the CPO, extended hour and appointment scenarios.
3.3.1 Vehicle types
Developing a detailed set of drayage vehicles is crucial as it will allow for the
accurate representation of queues at the terminal gates and detailed modeling of
movements between the terminals and the chassis depots. The latter is vital when
estimating congestion delays and emissions, as these movements represented a significant
percentage of the total drayage movements within the PNE. Three major categories of
vehicles were used to represent the typical traffic stream at the PNE:
a) passenger cars that would originate at or be destined to “other” zones
b) trucks that would originate at or be destined to “other” zones and
c) trucks destined to the IMCTs
For passenger cars, the default car attributes provided by Paramics were used to
represent physical characteristics of the vehicles. Two vehicle types were used to
represent trucks destined to “other” zones within the PNE. Both vehicles were given the
default operational attributes of a Large Goods Vehicle (LGV) but one was given a length
of 20 ft and the other was given a total length of 66ft which was divided into a 13 ft cab
and a 53 ft trailer. 85% of demand for trucks destined to “other” zones was represented
by the 20ft trucks and the remaining 15% by 66 ft vehicles.
Three vehicle types were used to represent trucks destined to the terminals; trucks
hauling a container (from now on referred to as container trucks), trucks hauling a bare
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