Towards Resilient Re-Routing Procedures in Ports: Combining Sociotechnical Systems and STAMP

Truck congestion around international ports creates persistent challenges for safety, efficiency, environmental performance, and accessibility, especially during container terminal disruptions when long queues of trucks accumulate. Traditional responses have failed to address the issue, probably because they address isolated components and have inadequately accounted for the interdependencies of sociotechnical systems, in which diverse actors pursue partly conflicting goals. The current study helps address this gap by examining how combining Sociotechnical Systems (STS) principles with the Systems-Theoretic Accident Model and Processes (STAMP) could support redesign of truck re-routing procedures during terminal closures at the Port of Rotterdam. Using structured interviews with port management and document analysis, we applied par-allel STS and the STAMP method System-Theoretic Process analyses. STS revealed misalignments among procedures, actor intentions, infrastructure, and communication practices, explaining why diversion protocols often fail. The STAMP method extended this diagnosis by modeling control structures, systematically identifying 92 unsafe control actions and 407 related loss scenarios, which formed the basis of 16 design recommendations. Together, STS and STAMP methods offer diagnostic and prescriptive insights, yielding solutions such as fair-order entry processes, real-time terminal status sharing, and improved cross-actor coordination. Integrating STS and STPA provides a robust framework for redesigning transport and other complex systems to improve their outcomes.