The U.S. economy has become increasingly dependent on imported goods, especially those from China and other Asian countries such as Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Singapore. During the last decade the value of imported goods from China has increased from $51.5 billion to $287.7 billion. Ports located in California are the most commonly used entry points for products imported from China and other Asian countries. However, companies have two major concerns when using ports in California. The first issue is the capacity of ports. The port of Los Angeles, the busiest port in America (70% of the Asian imports through western United States arrive through Los Angeles/Long Beach), has reached its saturation point. As a result, ships have to wait offshore up to 14 days during the peak months (July to December). Waiting offshore not only increases lead time but also increases the cost of goods because it costs an average of $300,000 a week in salaries and fuel to operate a ship. The second issue is the congested highway traffic and over-burdened rail traffic in California. To overcome these issues, companies especially selling or distributing goods in the eastern and central United States can import goods into Mexico. The advantage of bringing goods into Mexico is threefold: Docking and unloading times for ships are considerably less in Mexican ports, which in the last few years have received renewed interest and investments.
Intermodal Transportation System for Asian Goods to U.S. Via Mexico: An Analysis
2010
29 pages
Report
Keine Angabe
Englisch
Transportation & Traffic Planning , Transportation , International Commerce, Marketing, & Economics , Intermodal transportation systems , Imports , International trade , Economic development , China , Asia , Mexico , Highways , Ports , California , Traffic congestion , Ships , Rail transport , Commodities
British Library Conference Proceedings | 1999
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