This fireside chat recap is from the FreightWaves OceanWaves Summit on Wednesday.
FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: Can you hear me? U.S. ports’ dead spots
DETAILS: Ports around the world often suffer from digital communication blackouts. These dead spots not only leave a nation open to trade terrorism, they also inhibit the real-time tracking of trade, lost containers and damaged containers.
SPEAKERS: Lori Ann LaRocco, CNBC senior editor of guests and a FreightWaves contributor; Jack Hedge, executive director of the Utah Inland Port Authority; and Andrew Scott, founder and CEO of QuayChain Technologies.
BIOS: Scott’s company, QuayChain Technologies, provides secure software, devices and advanced wireless connectivity to intermodal logistics ecosystems. At the Utah Inland Port Authority, Hedge is building a sustainable intermodal logistics hub that will help prepare and manage Utah’s continuing economic growth.
The Utah Inland Port Authority and QuayChain Technologies recently announced they are in the process of building out the first private supply chain LTE/5G network. The system will be completed by the end of 2021.
KEY QUOTES FROM SCOTT:
“I think we have all in our industry experienced trying to explain to people how we can see our $6 toy dog ball that we ordered on Amazon be tracked to our front door, but our half-a-million-dollar container coming out of a port, we don’t see for multiple days.”
“We talk a lot about Utah and the Golden Spike, where the rail came together in the United States, and that changed the economy 150 years ago. We hope that the [LTE/5G network] in Utah will be this digital spike, with how we can connect the West Coast ports to the rest of the country digitally.”
KEY QUOTES FROM HEDGE:
“One of the things that we’re hearing, and this is a frustration in seaports and this is a frustration at the inland ports as well, that these areas are black holes. So they don’t have access to data, they can’t know where their things are. Even if they are getting [electronic data exchange] feeds, that’s not in real time.”
“This [5G network] is just the next leg under the table of infrastructure. By utilizing this infrastructure, we’re actually creating capacity in the system, that ability to be more fluid with our goods movement and be more rapid. It adds capability and capacity in the system that otherwise would require additional roads and rail and things like that.”
Click for more FreightWaves articles by Noi Mahoney.
More articles by Noi Mahoney
Mission produce boosts footprint with Texas avocado import facility
Nearly 300 layoffs announced at 2 logistics companies
Port Corpus Christi’s $139M channel expansion contract awarded
Freight Fraud Symposium
Double brokering. AI deepfakes. Identity theft. Freight fraud is an existential threat to the industry. Get ahead of it.
Supply Chain AI Symposium
Past the hype. Join operators, founders, and enterprise leaders figuring out how to deploy AI in supply chain.
Future of Rail Symposium
Reshoring is rewriting freight demand. Join shippers, rail executives, and government officials to shape the next decade.
Double brokering. AI deepfakes. Identity theft. Freight fraud is an existential threat to the industry. Get ahead of it.
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame • Cleveland, OH Register NowPast the hype. Join operators, founders, and enterprise leaders figuring out how to deploy AI in supply chain.
The Old Post Office • Chicago, IL Register NowReshoring is rewriting freight demand. Join shippers, rail executives, and government officials to shape the next decade.
The Signal at Chattanooga Choo Choo • Chattanooga, TN Register Now