Manufacturing, autos and logistics
Dwell time
How long a container, truck or shipment waits at a port or terminal before moving on.
Last reviewedWhat does Dwell time mean?
Long dwell times fill yards and cut the capacity of the same land, following Little's law: throughput = space / time. Example: a yard with 20,000 TEU of space and an average dwell of 5 days can handle about 4,000 TEU a day; cutting dwell to 4 days raises that to 5,000 TEU a day without new land. Customs delays, paperwork and storage fees that are too low all increase dwell time. The World Bank's Container Port Performance Index compares ports on related measures.
Example
Dwell time is the average time cargo spends in a terminal, port or warehouse, for example from being unloaded from a ship to leaving the port by truck or rail.
Where does it come up in case interview prep?
- How logistics works: carriers, forwarders, warehouses, ports and the last mileLesson in Logistics, shipping, ports and supply-chain services
- Logistics economics and operations: voyages, rerouting, warehouses and the last mileLesson in Logistics, shipping, ports and supply-chain services
- Logistics players, hubs and trade lanes, trends 2024 to 2026, and how to crack the casesLesson in Logistics, shipping, ports and supply-chain services
Related terms
- Little's lawItems in a system = arrival rate × time each item spends in it.
- BottleneckThe slowest step, which limits the output of the whole process.
- TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit)The standard measure of container volume: one 20-foot container.
- Capacity utilizationActual output as a share of the most that could be produced.
- OEM (original equipment manufacturer)In autos and machinery, the company that designs, assembles and brands the final product.
- Tier 1 supplierA supplier that sells complete parts or systems directly to the carmaker.
- Vehicle platformA shared set of engineering underpinnings used for many car models.
- Battery pack costThe cost of an electric vehicle's battery pack, usually quoted per kWh of capacity.