Container terminal

A container terminal is the specialized port facility that transfers intermodal containers between ships, the yard, and land transport. Its anatomy is the quay with ship-to-shore gantry cranes, the apron and backreach, the stacking yard worked by RTGs, RMGs, or straddle carriers, the rail and gate interfaces, and the terminal operating system that orchestrates moves. Capacity is governed by quay-crane productivity, yard density, and gate throughput; automation of stacking cranes and AGVs targets the yard, the usual bottleneck.