Money can’t solve everything…
More money for infrastructure, additional assets, and higher freight rates won’t solve the freight bottlenecks which plague USA ocean shipping and distribution; only a focus on the freight-handling inefficiencies that cause these problems will.
The tight capacity conditions that have caused truck and inter-modal rail rates to soar in 2018 will hopefully moderate in 2019, due to the global economic forces. However trucker delays at marine terminals, railyards, and distribution warehouses will continue because of inefficient processes in the supply chain.
The warning signs are everywhere! Ships are waiting for each other at the sea-ports; trains are bunching at the inter-modal ramps, resulting in truck delays at those facilities and the final warehouse. The issues begin at the ports and inter-modal ramps and continue throughout the North American network. Weather events such as hurricanes, snowstorms and frigid winter temperatures worsen the case.
Chassis shortages and dis-locations are rampant at rail facilities as well as marine terminals, and seem to be increasing in frequency despite developments such as the formation of the pool of pools in Southern California, a recently-announced chassis pool in the Southeast and additional options offered by newer inter-modal equipment providers to supplement the fleets of the three major “Inter-modal Equipment Pools” (IEP's).
The much-touched US driver shortage is not an actual shortage, but rather the inefficient use of drivers’ available service hours, due to delays at marine terminals, rail ramps, and along congested roadways. Warehouses are also a bottleneck, and beneficial cargo owners (BCO's) are now hearing that it is they, rather than the drivers, who are becoming expendable.
While the transportation industry is looking to technology solutions to address many of the efficiencies it faces, each segment of the transportation supply chain, including ocean carriers, port authorities, marine terminals, equipment providers, truckers and railroads, has access to a number of technology products that can address specific issues particular to each sector, but they are all isolated in their respective industries.
D&R understands that information technology is going to play a vital role in the container transportation industry and has been developing IT solutions since 2006.
We hope that you therefore choose to work with us! Just contact us, get insight…
www.vandongederoo.com – Miles ahead in shipping
Source: www.joc.com
