Key successful strategies of achieving net-zero emissions performance for Taiwanese container terminal operators

The operational activities at container terminals play a crucial role in port services. In the global movement toward net-zero emissions (NZE), the operational activities at container terminals will significantly impact the promotion of green ports. How container terminal operators (CTOs) come up with successful strategies to improve net-zero performance has become worthy of in-depth investigation. Therefore, the main purpose of this article is to apply the best-worst method (BWM) to evaluate the key successful strategies (KSSs) of achieving NZE performance for Taiwanese CTOs. At first, based on the relevant literature and expert interviews, this study preliminarily identifies the strategies affecting the implementation of NZE, which include four major assessment dimensions and twelve assessment strategies. Next, the BWM computational steps are employed along with expert questionnaires to conduct an empirical investigation. Fina lly, the research results indicate that (1) ‘electrification of equipment’ is the most important assessment dimension to achieve NZE performance for Taiwanese CTOs. (2) The three most KSSs of achieving NZE performance are: ‘electric gantry crane,’ ‘electric rubber tire gantry crane,’ and ‘automated gate systems.’ In addition, this article discusses and provides recommendations regarding these three KSSs as a reference for future Taiwanese CTOs to implement NZE.