David Bensman on the rise and fall and rise of the trucking industry:
Rotterdam, Europe’s largest port, is a marvel of efficiency. More than 7,000 container ships visit its docks annually, most stopping for barely more than a day. New terminal facilities, built on landfill where the river meets the sea, handle 10 million containers with a minimum of congestion and pollution.
The freight — Chinese clothing and electronics, American pharmaceuticals, Spanish automobiles — seamlessly flows to warehouses, distribution centers, rail yards, and barges surrounding the port, on time and on schedule. The tightly integrated freight-movement system at the port makes it possible to operate a just-in-time logistics system in which goods arrive at their destination 15 minutes before they are moved to their next spot on the supply chain. This allows shippers to operate with minimal inventory, a must on a continent where most retail shops have minimal space to store goods. Lean logistics means lower interest costs on merchandise, lower insurance costs, less theft, and less need to discount unsold goods.
