The last several years have shown the supply chain industry two things. First, what the future of forecasted elevated container volumes will look like, and second, how stakeholders’ behavior impacts the flow of global commerce throughout the entire supply chain. The latter is what happens when there is an oversupply of goods and services without enough demand for them. Rightsizing the entire supply chain and ensuring data transparency are key in planning for tomorrow’s capacity needs to avoid past challenges.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and its marine terminal operators continue to advance initiatives to foster digitalization, increase data visibility and enhance communications to port customers and stakeholders. Collectively, these initiatives streamline operations, improve efficiency and increase visibility to support advanced planning and informed decision making.
We recognize the benefits of data sharing and cargo visibility but believe that these initiatives should remain a commercial decision rather than be mandated through regulation. Currently, most of the cargo visibility metrics included in the US Federal Maritime Commission’s (FMC) data initiative are available via a secure login to our port community system, PortTruckPass, which includes the Terminal Information Portal System (TIPS). Additionally, port-wide performance metrics requested by our customers are published weekly on our Supply Chain Dashboard.
It’s important to recognize that data alone doesn’t move containers. Shippers must be proactive and remain part of the solution by engaging in available data sharing systems and continued collaboration with their upstream and downstream partners.
Our port stands as an example of effectively disseminating industry data to stakeholders on a good faith basis, and we’re committed to improving information sharing through our established channels. The FMC can best support these initiatives by working with the industry to standardize data metrics, reporting guidelines, cybersecurity protocols and data security to ensure accuracy and consistency.