please follow directions or I will dispute 

Please answer original forum with a minimum of 250 words and respond to both students separately with a minimum of 100 words each

oage 1 Original Forum with references 

page 2 said response with references 

page 3 Monica response with references 

Original Forum 

How and why should inland ports become better utilized to improve the integrated transportation and distribution system?

How does that impact the hub and spoke concept for the maritime industry?

Student response

Said

Hello Class,

Valentine (2020) states that “A study undertaken by the McKinsey Consulting Company suggested the future container ships of 50,000 TEUs by 2050. With 400,000 TEUs arriving per month at American east coast ports, a container ship of 50,000 TEUs would arrive eight times per month at a Canadian transshipment terminal, or every fourth day” (Valentine 2020). In my opinion, this a partial answer to the question number one of this week’s discussion. Port infrastructure can undergo expansion. However, it is not realistic to assume that expansions can resolve growing port congestion issues completely. Inland ports might be very good solution to the growing congestion problem worldwide. They take immense pressure off of the seaports, minimize traffic around them, and ultimately help to create seamless transportation network. All these ultimately might help cutting the consumer wait time. 

Calgary (2022) discusses fourteen key advantages of inland ports. Some of them are; efficiency of rail shipping, more space for warehousing, market proximity, serving as a buffer in supply chain (Calgary 2022). Considering the fact that most of the lower 48 states of the United States are landlocked, inland ports might offer new employment to local citizens as well as tax revenue to the local governments by improving their overall supply chain. 

South Carolina Ports (2022) puts it into perspective. Two inland ports of Dillan and Greer brought $65B economic impact to the local/state economy where more than 94million people reside (South Carolina Ports 2022). Increase in the bottom line and excellent customer service are always the main goal and key to success of every business. Such inland ports in SC and Salt Lake City, UT might be a good blueprint to other states across the nation.

Hub and spoke concept can provide freedom to the ports by letting them minimize vessel turnaround time. This concept involves rail movement of cargo from seaports to a potential inland port. Considering that each container railcar able to take four TEU’s and train in average consists of 65 to 100 railcars, a good amount of cargo can be pulled out of the seaport with every train-pull. Main advantages of the hub concept discussed by Transportation Geography (n.d.) are 

• Economies of scale on connections by offering a high frequency of services. For instance, instead of one service per day between any two pairs in a point-to-point network, four services per day could be possible.
• Economies of scale at the hubs enable the potential development of an efficient distribution system since the hubs handle larger quantities of traffic.
• Economies of scope in the use of shared transshipment facilities. This can take several dimensions, such as lower costs for the users as well as higher quality infrastructures. (Transportation Geography n.d.)

Respectfully,

Said

References:

Valentine (2020). Evolving Hub-and-Spoke Container Transshipment. Retrieved from  https://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/evolving-hub-and-spoke-container-transshipment

South Carolina Ports (2022). Inland Ports. Retrieved from  https://scspa.com/cargo/logistics/inland-ports/

Calgary (2022). 14 key advantages of inland ports to boost your supply chain. Retrieved from https://www.calgary.ca/realestate/blog/14-key-advantages-of-inland-ports-to-boost-your-supply-chain.html

Transportation Geography (n.d.) Point-to-pointversus hub-and-spoke networks. Retrieved from https://transportgeography.org/contents/chapter2/geography-of-transportation-networks/point-to-point-versus-hub-and-spoke-network/

Monica

Professor & Class,

Rail shuttles could be installed in maritime ports to distribute cargo to inland ports that are strategically located. A prime location is one where there is abundant demand for freight transportation, an adequate supply of carrier services, and public and private funding resources. By developing an inland port, manufacturing and customers can be closer to each other, and distance and detention costs can be reduced; more space, better equipment, and faster throughput will be reduced. Inland ports are also characterized by their flexibility in terms of capacity and expansion. As part of its logistics services, the inland port could offer warehousing, freight forwarding, brokerage, and breakbulk services. Combining the geographic advantage with the hub and spoke concept, it is easy to see how this would make sense. A company’s shipments can be received in a location close to its manufacturing or customer cluster, reducing logistics coordination and supply chain expenses. The port becomes even more valuable if it also provides cargo processing, consolidation, distribution, customs services, as well as warehousing services. Rather than focusing on maritime functions, the inland port can better tailor its business to serve the needs of land-side operations and customers. An accurate assessment of the current situation, or benchmark, is required to make qualified recommendations about the effects of introducing measures in a maritime logistics chain for improving GHG emissions and energy consumption. In order to perform benchmarking studies, there are two main approaches. In the first place, we can compare the performance of each node (leg) in the chain separately, for example, the performance of each type of transport, terminal and warehouse separately. Another option is to examine a logistics chain as a whole or in its entirety (Song & Panavides, 2012). The outputs of operational processes are defined. Falmouth Harbour Commissioners (FHC) is studied as a case study to assess the benefits of applying a systems approach to planning more sustainable maritime operations. Falmouth recently experienced a significant increase in boat traffic and fuel sales as more passing vessels took low-sulfur fuel onboard after the EU designated a Sulphur Oxide Emission Control Area (SECA) in the North Sea (Song & Panavides, 2012). Therefore, hub-and-spoke charters will replace many direct sailings between East Asian and European ports, as well as North American ports, with comparatively higher costs per container.

-Monica

Reference

Song, D., & Panayides, P. (Eds.). (2012). Maritime logistics : Contemporary issues. Emerald Publishing Limited.