Estimating the Operational Impact of Container Inspections at International Ports

Abstract

A U.S. law mandating nonintrusive imaging and radiation detection for 100% of U.S.-bound containers at international ports has provoked widespread concern that the resulting congestion would hinder trade significantly. Using detailed data on container movements, gathered from two large international terminals, we simulate the impact of the two most important inspection policies that are being considered. We find that the current inspection regime being advanced by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security can only handle a small percentage of the total load. An alternate inspection protocol that emphasizes screening-a rapid primary scan of all containers, followed by a more careful secondary scan of only a few containers that fail the primary test-holds promise as a feasible solution for meeting the 100% scanning requirement.

Mitigating supply and production uncertainties with dynamic scheduling using real-time transport information

“…We choose this distribution based on empirical evidence collected from the industrial example. Moreover, the lognormal distribution seems suitable to capture lead time variability, because it has a modal response strictly above zero and a long tail representing infrequent cases of long lead times (Bakshi et al, 2011). The stock allocation rule of our static policy is encapsulated in Proposition 3.1.…”

“…The choice of such distribution is motivated by empirical evidence collected from the industrial example and confirmed by its suitability to capture lead time variability (Bakshi et al, 2011).…”

Sea Container Terminals: New Technologies, OR Models, and Emerging Research Areas

“…Flynn (2004) and Flynn (2007) Currently, in order to assure security, the common objective in many ports and especially in the U.S. is to inspect every container arriving and leaving a terminal (Bakshi et al, 2011). In order to inspect containers, most of the terminals use X-ray scanners which cost approximately $4.5 million each with estimated annual operating costs of $200k (Frankle, 2004).…”

“…Similarly, Bakshi and Gans (2010) use game theory models to study container inspection policies at U.S. domestic ports. Furthermore, Bakshi et al (2011) perform a simulation study to compare two container inspection regimes, namely the container security initiative (CSI) and the secure freight initiative (SFI). CSI employs rule-based software to identify high risk containers destined for U.S. ports.…”

Efficient Hinterland Transport Infrastructure and Services for Large Container Ports

“…Security and custom regulation can impose substantial delays in the operation of the terminal and it is therefore vital that coordination with the agencies responsible for these activities is negotiated and security practices are embedded in terminal gate management. Literature now exists in the area of security for container logistics (Acciaro and Serra 2013), but major issues remain with reference to the impact of scanning procedures (Bakshi, Flynn and Gans 2011), ISPS code (Yang 2010, Lirn andWang 2010) or terminal operation resilience (Lewis, Erera andWhite 2003, Yeo, Pak and. From the analysis of 470 container terminals it appears that security has a negative impact on the operational efficiency of terminals, especially through inspection regimes, although the nature and scale of this impact depends substantially on the type of regulation and security strategy of the terminal (Bichou 2011).…”