A new maritime transportation data system should be established to help smooth supply chains for ocean cargo, a new report from Federal Maritime Commission Commissioner Carl Bentzel recommends. The report concludes an initiative Bentzel headed to examine ways to improve information flow, data management, and transparency as part of broader FMC efforts to address port congestion and other issues that have slowed the transportation of imported and exported goods.
According to the report, the COVID pandemic “revealed some deeply concerning practices about how participants within the supply chain communicate, interact, and share information.” It also saw unprecedented supply chain upheavals that highlighted an increasingly fragmented supply chain that struggles to connect transportation partners with timely operational information.
However, the report also notes that data transmission between ocean carriers, terminals, trucks, and railroads has “proven to be problematic even in the best of times.” Information is sometimes supplied by the wrong party or not provided at all. Decisions on operational status affecting cargo movement or estimated arrival are not widely disseminated or harmonized with supply chain partners. As a result, getting the most accurate information to use for cargo pickup, delivery, and receipt has been a constant challenge.
The proposed MTDS seeks to address this problem by establishing a mandatory standard for providing data on ocean carrier vessel operations and arrivals, intermodal rail arrivals and departures, and access and restrictions into/out of both marine and intermodal rail facilities. This information would include real-time position and estimated arrival times for container shipments and the status of cargo while in storage at terminals. Information would be sourced from the party in possession of the cargo at the time of the information request, made publicly available for at least three months, and stored for one to two years. Business confidential information would continue to be accessible only to those parties legally entitled to access it.
The report notes that it is not recommending the creation of a new system of information or standards on data transmissions but instead a performance standard for the dissemination of information. It is also not endorsing container tracking, which is still under development.
The FMC is expected to provide an opportunity for public feedback on the report and its recommendations later this year.
Copyright © 2024 Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.; WorldTrade Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved.