The Transpacific trade in container between Northeast Asia and North America is one of theworld’s highest volume arterial trade lanes. In comparison with Transpacific trade route, theTransatlantic trade route between Europe and North America is small and has been growingslow. Import container movement in these international trade lanes are the primary sources ofUnited States container import activity. Container movements are heavily concentrated at anumber of major gateways. The high concentration affects traffic and congestion at seaport aswell as associated major transportation corridors. Concerns over potential long term congestionand large-ship draft restrictions have led shippers to seek alternatives. The all water routingthrough the Panama Canal to the East Coast is expected to grow to avoid potential congestion atWest Coast. Canadian container ports are being developed and provide congestion free serviceand an interesting option for importers to reach U.S. markets. This paper analyzes the supplychain network with primary focus on import container to United States. An optimization modelthat integrates international trade and U.S. inland transport networks is developed. The supplychain channels include container import from Northeast Asia through the West Coast to U.S.inland markets of U.S. (defined by Business Economic Area), to East Coast of United States. viathe Panama Canal, and European imports to U.S. markets through Gulf and East Coast. Thisstudy accounts for container imports to U.S. markets through existing and newly openedcontainer ports in Canada. The model includes capacity restrictions at ports as well ascapacities on the inland transport networks. The estimated container traffic flows are reflectiveof current traffic flows. Heavily concentrated corridors are indentified. Sensitivity analysis wasperformed to evaluate impacts of congestion on capacity constraints. The optimization modelpresents a framework for capturing impacts on the supply chain network due to underlying coststructure changes and potential infrastructure constraints.
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