Intermodal maritime supply chains: assessing factors for resiliency and security
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Intermodal maritime supply chains: assessing factors for resiliency and security Richard R. Young 1 & Gary A. Gordon 2 Received: 14 July 2020 / Accepted: 7 October 2020/ # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Much of the value exchanged in international trade is transported as containerized freight. While this transport mode has become ubiquitous for manufactured goods, offering a fast and efficient service, it does pose security threats in the post-9/11 era. Even though containerization offers security from pilferage, it provides a means for obscuring contraband as well as opportunities to tamper with goods in shipment. Although the Container Security Initiative (CSI) and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-PAT) are high profile initiatives seeking to improve the security of global supply chains, vulnerability still remains from the port of origin and on the high seas to the port of discharge. This research is based on interviews from a wide range of supply chain participants that includes regulatory agencies, transportation providers, importers, exporters, and trade intermediaries. These provide the basis for a decomposition of the global maritime supply chain into those elements up to that point when goods are cleared by U.S. Customs. Analysis of the informational and physical flows suggests that the greatest vulnerabilities lie in those transportation segments between the origin of the goods and that point when they await shipment at a foreign port. Keywords Containerized cargo vulnerability . Global supply chain security . Supply chain
resiliency
* Gary A. Gordon [email protected] Richard R. Young [email protected]
1
The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA
2
University of Massachusetts Lowell , Lowell, MA, USA
R. R. Young, G. A. Gordon
Introduction Foreign sourcing has continued to expand as firms in many industries have sought access to technology, access to non-indigenous raw materials, lower costs, and increased foreign content in order to advance subsequent sales in specific markets. During the 25-year period ending in 2015, imports into the U.S. have grown at a rate approximately 250% greater than the gross domestic product (Statista 2018a, b). Even after deducting imported crude petroleum and other basic commodities from the mix, manufactured goods remain a significant portion of imports. This is a key point because these are most often imported by intermodal maritime container. The sourcing of goods from foreign suppliers raises concerns for the resiliency and security of the respective supply chains, due to their vulnerability and associated risks. In the post-9/11 environment, it can be said that the supply chain functions underwent dramatic change, as all forms of transportation were now seen as vulnerable to terrorist action, as noted in Cook (2008): The supply chains of the world have been forever altered. Any person or corporation who imports, exports, or transports goods and services within, to, or from the United St
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