Digital technologies for efficient and resilient sea-land logistics: IT-based decision support systems to manage highway capacity at major gateway ports
The competitiveness of modern gateway ports increasingly depends on external factors beyond the port domain, such as the performance of hinterland connections. However, despite extensive research on port competitiveness, a theoretical gap persists regarding the role of road transport networks, whose efficiency and resilience remain a largely underexplored exogenous driver. This study contributes to addressing this gap by conceptualizing road-network performance through three analytical dimensions: traffic management, maintenance and infrastructure development. The study introduces a data-driven Decision Support System (DSS) architecture developed using Power Query and Power BI, thereby contributing to the existing methodological debate by illustrating how these analytical dimensions can be translated into a structured and data-driven assessment framework. The functioning of the DSS is illustrated through a structured simulation-based application using a synthetic dataset designed to reproduce realistic traffic dynamics. The efficiency, resilience and overall quality of services provided by international supply chains focused on sea-land logistics increasingly depend on the ability to implement IT-based applications. In this perspective, several emerging digital technologies enable the development of IT-based DSS that operate through real-time data integration, offering timely and accurate information to a wide range of stakeholders. Key findings reveal that even moderate reductions in infrastructure capacity due to roadwork sites can significantly deteriorate Levels of Service (LOS), especially during peak hours, impacting freight movements and port accessibility. The proposed DSS enables real-time monitoring, scenario comparison and predictive planning, offering concrete benefits across three strategic domains that emerge from the theoretical framing. Despite the original contribution provided, the present study is subject to some limitations that open up relevant avenues for future research. In particular, the current application relies on a synthetic dataset designed to illustrate the operational logic of the proposed DSS rather than to provide a full empirical validation of its performance. Future studies are called to perform simulations and analysis by applying real data concerning motorway infrastructural endowment and capacity, demand patterns and associated LOS. In addition, it could be worth testing the impact of critical events, including force majeure, that might provoke sudden limitations to capacity and/or heavy traffic perturbation across the port logistics chain, in order to assess the effectiveness of potential recovery mechanisms to be implemented by business operators. In this perspective, future empirical research grounded on real-world case studies could explicitly adopt structured design-oriented methodological approaches, such as Design Science Research Methodology, to iteratively test, refine and assess DSS artefacts under operational conditions, moving beyond the illustrative and exploratory scope of the present study. Overall, the proposed framework suggests that the adoption of IT-based DSS solutions can generate several benefits for a wide range of stakeholders involved in the management and utilization of highway infrastructures. For highway concessionaires (and public awarding authorities), the DSS serves as a powerful tool to enhance decision-making processes at multiple levels. Port authorities and logistics operators can benefit from the availability of such decision-support too. Reliable and efficient hinterland connectivity is essential for maintaining port competitiveness and expanding hinterland boundaries, and by reducing the risks of congestion-related delays, the DSS helps ensure that cargo flows can move seamlessly between ports and inland destinations. For public decision-makers and regulators, the availability of accurate data-driven information provides a solid foundation for informed policy and investment decisions. The DSS offers clear visibility into current infrastructure performance, helping to identify where new investments are most needed (such as the expansion of highway sections or the development of new connections). The benefits of the DSS extend to road users themselves, encompassing both B2B users, such as freight transport operators, and B2C users, including private vehicle drivers. For these users, improved travel conditions, reduced congestion and more predictable journey times translate into lower costs, greater reliability and an overall better travel experience. Finally, local communities and urban authorities play a key role in the broader ecosystem. The DSS contributes to mitigating the negative externalities associated with heavy port-related traffic, such as pollution, noise and urban congestion. Hence, the study provides policy and managerial implications about the benefits of implementing IT-based DSS conceived to manage highway capacity efficiently, while offering insights to Port Authorities, regulators and road users for improving travel choices and mobility behaviors.