The MetroFreight Center of Excellence (COE) Partners were graciously hosted by The Korea Transport Institute (KOTI) for a multi-faceted 2-day visit to Seoul from July 6 – 7, 2016.  Dr. Sangbeom Seo, Research Fellow and Director of the Division for Logistics Policy and Industry, and Jee-Sun Lee, Associate Research Fellow, developed the program and orchestrated the schedule to include multiple venues.  The activities for the Partners included:  1) a MetroFreight Business Meeting; 2) an International Seminar on City Logistics, and 3) site tours.

On Wednesday, July 6, the day began with the MetroFreight Business Meeting at the Hong Moon Guan in Hongik University School. It provided a welcome opportunity for the Partners from Los Angeles, New York, Paris and Seoul to exchange urban freight research updates and discuss future strategies for continuing the mutually beneficial collaboration with the Volvo Research and Educational Foundations (VREF). The current 5-year contract with VREF is scheduled for completion at the end of 2017, and there is hope for future dedicated funding.

That afternoon, the International Seminar on City Logistics: Challenges and Strategies for Sustainable Urban Freight  took place, a joint seminar of MetroFreight, KOTI, the Korea Logistics Society and Hongik University Industry-Academia Cooperation Foundation.  USC Professor Genevieve Giuliano, Director of MetroFreight and Professor at the University of Southern California, gave the Keynote speech on the many facets of MetroFreight.

Presentations on urban freight research followed in a special session.
                Laetitia Dablanc, IFSTTAR              Logistics hotels in Paris 
                Jee-Sun Lee, KOTI                         e-Logis town in Korea
                Hyunwoo Lim, Inha University        A case study on improving delivery services for franchise stores using urban cross-dock centers considering traffic conditions
                Younghwan Shin, MeshKorea        World’s 1^st last mile logistics portal, MeshKorea

Nine discussants then participated in a discussion session that included MetroFreight Partners Camille Kamga, Penny Eickemeyer, and Alison Conway representing the University Transportation Research Center (UTRC); and Tom O’Brien from California State University Long Beach.

Thursday, July 7 was filled with fascinating site tours that included the Seoul Integrated Freight Terminal, Ui-Wang Inland Container Depot and Kunpo Integrated Freight Terminal.

Seoul Integrated Freight Terminal
A joint venture of logistics companies and the city of Seoul, the Seoul Integrated Freight Terminal is intended to serve southeast Seoul.  It is marketed for its efficiency due to: 1) a closer average distance to delivery locations; and 2) low rents because transport costs are reduced from more distant facilities.

Characteristics of the terminal include multi-story warehousing and automated cold storage.  The terminal is located in the old green ring area; the government issued 30 urban leases to the developer. Covering 400k square meters, there are currently 32 companies renting space and there is one entire building designated for a same day delivery company. 

Ui-Wang Inland Container Depot
The purpose of establishing the Inland Container Depot (ICD) was to strengthen national competitive power by minimizing logistics costs through improvement of Korea’s ocean-going container logistics system. The ICD is a logistics place established inland, not at sea port.  It performs consolidated logistic functions that include: 1) storing, transporting, stevedoring and customs clearance of containers; as well as 2) warehousing and distribution of import-export freights. There are six terminals total; one is operated by Ui-Wang, which is the one that was visited by the MetroFreight Partners.

The functions of the ICD include the Inland Container Terminal, railroad transportation, Customs clearance, and inland transportation. Demonstrated effects of the ICD are: relief of traffic congestion by the large volume of railroad transport; curtailment of cost and time; relief of accumulated cargo at ports; and supplying the latest logistics information to the related parties at real time.

Gunpo Integrated Freight Terminal
Based in Kunpo-si, South Korea, the Korea Integrated Freight Terminal Co., Ltd. (KIFT) provides freight terminal services, offering storage warehousing and other logistics services including a system of logistics centers. As a subsidiary of CJ Korea Express Corporation, the company operates terminals located in five regions across the country, according to the Logistics plan of the government.  

KIFT is responsible for four regional districts (Gunpo, Busan, Honam, and Jungbu) and offers their Facility, according to the cargo character. (Distribution center, Cross docking area, Complex warehouse, Rail freight area, CNTR freight station, CNTR Yard). KIFT supports multimodal transport in connection with rail service. The site visit for the MF Partners took place at the Gunpo Terminal, which is the largest of the four, with about 55 clients including CJ KX, Hyundai Logistics, Hanjin, etc. There are plans for expansion of the terminal but locals are opposed.  The land is very pricey.

Next Step: Travel to WCTR
Following the Seoul visit,  MetroFreight partners traveled directly to Shanghai, China to participate in the 14^th  World Conference on Transport Research (WCTR) from July 10 – 15, 2016.  The MF Center of Excellence was well represented by research project presentations given by faculty, researchers and doctoral students from the University of Southern California (USC), California State University Long Beach (CSULB), City College of New York, IFSTTAR University of Paris-Est, France (IFSTTAR) and The Korea Transport Institute (KOTI) of the Republic of Korea.