The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), Washington, D.C., unveiled a report aimed at enhancing U.S supply chain efficiency and competitiveness and reducing port congestion.

The report, “Improving American Competitiveness: Best Practices by U.S. Port Communities,” describes key findings and lessons learned from U.S. ports and their stakeholders.

Key findings include:

• Customized information technologies based on a standard set of maritime cargo data elements can improve operational efficiency and cargo status data flow throughout the port community.
• Investment in workforce development is needed to equip workers to adjust to changing vessel sizes, cargo flow demands and technologies.
• Benchmarks need to be measuarable, agreed upon by all members involved and focused on identifying efficiency problems to evaluate the impacts of the environment.