In the context of container terminals a gate refers to the process of registering and routing containers, not just a physical gate but also a process. Not knowing any details, probably this process was automated, which the union objected to?
It's a process, sure, but it feels distinct from the gantries or carriers that actually move containers.
This video published by the same terminal operator is the closest thing I can find to illustrate the process, and it's hard to imagine why in 2024 you would do it any other way: https://youtu.be/bd-RDpMBBHg
It's difficult to know what ILA objected to, as the system had apparently been in place at the port of Mobile for over a decade. It may just be the principle of the thing more than a specific objection, and that's their right. But the point is they definitely have a hard line stance on automation if something like OCRing container numbers is going to far.
The US merchant fleet has already gone poof. According to Wikipedia "As of 31 December 2016, the United States merchant fleet had 175 privately owned, oceangoing, self-propelled vessels of 1,000 gross register tons and above that carry cargo from port to port. " The list is likely even shorter today.
You see an emaciated man being fed a few grains of rice per day, someone says to stop the policy of feeding the man only a few grains of rice per day, and you argue "we can't stop feeding him these few grains of rice per day, they are the only thing keeping him alive!"
The Jones Act made sense when it was implemented in the 1920s while America was the world's leading ship builder, the shipping industry was heavily subsidized, and there was no alternative to shipping things by water. But after the subsidies stopped, and shipbuilding in america started to lose its competitiveness, and we built a massive interstate highway system that made transport by truck economical, the Jones Act proved far too restrictive. The more expensive domestic water shipping got, the less demand there was for ships, the less demand there was for ships, the more it cost to build ships domestically, the more it cost to build ships domestically, the more expensive domestic water shipping got.
There are alternative and better ways to keep the us merchant fleet alive, and even make it thrive, than keeping the current status quo which is obviously not working.
>Jones Act is not what killed the US Merchant Marine Fleet. Globalization is what killed it.
"Protectionism isn't what killed the US industry. Having any overseas competition whatsoever is what killed the US industry." This is farcical.
If globalisation is when the market lacks protectionism and as a result the manufacturing all moves to cheaper shores, then this was not globalisation by dint of US shipbuilding having abundant protectionism.
Yes. Clear goals is the big one. There is a lot to gain in our industry, in terms of technology.
We’ve seen a lot of disruption plays coming from VC backed tech companies but I hope coming at it from the ‘other’ side, the industry side, can create great value too.
Love your username - I had a friend who used to live in one of those :)
Sorry I missed this thread, I think it was meant for me.
I currently work for a small logistics company as a senior engineer. I am pretty happy and not looking for work (like many of the comments here), but I am happy to converse or schedule a call sometime if you're interested to discuss. 0x03e14@protonmail.ch.
Other commenters had I think the correct answer - you just need ONE REALLY GOOD IT co-founder or vice president to help coordinate that, who can both leverage outsourced solutions but also build things on their own, and most importantly who truly understands and cares about the logistics and cost savings.
I see a lot of dysfunctional and large tech teams building out over-complicated solutions with zero industry awareness, instead of lean solutions.
Did you see this article [1] here from a couple months ago about Temu's semi-managed delivery model? I was pleasantly surprised to see logistics on YC. We don't talk about it enough but it's the backbone of global economy.
Best of luck! Let us know what you decide to do and shoot me an email if you want to connect.
Thank you. This is very helpful. Getting the data of the old platform should not be a huge issue. Because we’re filling some gaps with a low-code solution, the infrastructure to get data out is already there.
Feasibly, we could replace functionality bit by bit.
Your and Fuzzfactor’s points are very well noted. To do this well we’d need someone who understands the domain/industry/business and who is able to set a coherent strategy. The rest follows from there.
