The Supply Chain?s Troika Of Trouble
The global supply chain in transporting goods relies on three inextricably linked types of transportation: maritime, rail freight and trucking. Each one can be considered a bridge from one to the other over hard infrastructure which allows goods to be transported from manufacturer to its final destination. In the present-day landscape all three are alarmingly weak and vulnerable. It has been extensively reported and documented that the maritime and trucking industry have difficulty in securing enough equipment and personnel to meet new demand because of extensive furlough of personnel, shortage of trained personnel and imbalance of availability of equipment. Little mentioned and equally critical to these links is freight trains which is an indispensable component in hauling imported goods from ports to major cities and distribution points as well as the domestic transport of agricultural products. SHIPPING & PORT INFRASTRUCTURE Ocean freight consists of 85% of total global tra