All those problems could cause a slowdown in the transaction process. Before being picked-up and transported to a terminal’s mainland or being loaded onto a ship, containers are stacked inside the terminal yard. Ottjes (2007) explained Dwell Time (DT) is defined as the total time a container spends in one or more terminal stacks. Broadly speaking, the definition of dwelling time is no different from the others. Nicoll (2007) said that dwelling time is the actual length of time the container spends within the port or its extension, and World Bank (2011) defined port dwell time as the time that counted start from when cargo (containers) is being unloaded from the ship until the container itself is leaving the terminal through the main door (Myriam et al., 2017).

Based on data and analysis of World Bank (2012) collusion between controlling agencies, port authorities, private terminal operators, logistics operators, and large shippers is an important part of the problem, which makes it one of the reason to why cargo dwell time matters in trade. Hummels (2001) said if the dwelling time is shorter, terminals are storing fewer containers, which means they’ll be able to finish transaction more quickly, since the increasement of transport time could possibly reduce trade. Without rapid import processes, trade based on assembly operations for export is impossible; for example such delays and unpredictability increase the inventories and prevent integration into global supply networks. Dwelling Time may be influenced by several factors such as gate operations, availability and efficiency of custom regulations. According to Moini and Rodrigue (2010), factors that affecting dwelling time are (Ioanna, Amalia, Christos, 2016):

  • Container’s status, which contains all information related to the container such as the container is full or empty, the size of the container, and the type of containers.
  • Exact date of arrival and departure from the vessel
  • Exact date of customs inspection (if performed)
  • Information related to the ocean carrier, such as assigned vessel and port of origin.