Transportation Logistics Management

Please answer original forum with a minimum of 250 words 
respond to both students on separate pages with a minimum of 100 words each 
please follow directions or i or I will dispute 

Original Forum

This week you will identify and discuss 2-3 issues, challenges, and/or trends within the transportation and logistics field. You will have to conduct online research to determine the issues, challenges, and trends that have emerged over the past 1-2 years. Discuss the issue, challenge, or trend in detail to include how it emerged, what are possible solutions, and how you see it impacting the future of TLM.  Discuss in detail and provide sources to support your thoughts, insights, ideas, and statements. 
Complete this Forum by providing an update on your project. What progress have you made? What “bells and whistles” will you include in the project (images, charts, graphs, etc.)? 

Student Responses

Teresa

Greetings Classmates!
CHALLENGES:
Positive Train Control (PTC) is an rising issue within the transport community. In a study conducted by the Federal Rail Road Administration, it was reported that “over 70 percent of fatal crashes in 2017 occurred at [rail] grade crossing with gates” (Flemming, 2018, GAO.gov) There are two types of rail road crossings. They are Active and Passive. Active passings requires signs and warning lights/sirens while passive crossing only require only signage. Most accidents occur at the passive crossings. To install warning signs/alerts it can cost anywhere between $80K -$300K since it’s $40 per sq feet. 
TRENDS:
Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and Texas take the lead in driver behavior issues. Some of the common reasons why are: driver distractions i.e cell phones, GPS, or makeup. Drivers also have a tendency to have bad perception of distance and speed due to the size of the train and try to out run them. At rail crossings without much activity, drivers tend to assume there is never a train so they do not look before crossing. Furthermore, rail road tracks are consider private property and any crossing or walking on other than at the crossings is considered trespassing. Most of the trends you would think are common sense yet 500 people are killed annual by trains…not sure if it includes suicide numbers
Solutions:
After reading several articles, it sounds like it boils down to a funding issue. Not sure if states are not applying for grants for economic development or using interest free capital improvement loans. Most accidents occur at passive rail and low activity crossings that require the very minimal signage. The only way I can see in minimizing this number is to increase signs/alerts. My disclaimer upfront, “No grants or funding have been given for this idea and I’m copyrighting it now ????”  Use the same material that traffic barriers are made from to make signage, the wording would be made from the strong adhesive weather resist stickers, like used in RFID tagging. Fill the inside of the traffic sign barriers with water or sand to help recycle their use after a hit from an incident or if you went to H.S with some morons like I did who like to steal signs just for the fun of it, it would make it pretty hard to do. I read somewhere that states spend an average of $35K in sign replacements from accidents etc. For the warning light flashes, use the $30 FAA runway solar flashers lights at the crossing, their cheaper and run on solar power. According, to the Government Office of Accountability states have until December 2018 to make improvements or request for extension. From what little I seen… they may want to start preparing a budget for a TDY Audit team…
As for my paper, all is well. I found some data images that will depict where the challenges are in some of the technology innovations in TLM. Have a great weekend!
~Teresa
Reference:
Flemming/ U.S. Government Accountability Office, S. (2018, August 13). Grade-Crossing Safety: DOT Should Evaluate Whether Program Provides States Flexibility to Address Ongoing Challenges (GAO-19-80). Retrieved from https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-19-80

Tiffany

Hello Class,
One emerging trend that occurs within the transportation and logistics is the fact that the use of technology innovation has supported optimization and visibility (McGuigan, 2017). Within this field, change never stops, and shippers are now compelled to enhance the capabilities and functionality of the way they manage transport. Particularly, now they desire to have real-time visibility of the shipments as well as their reporting. As a result, some have established regional control towers to enable them to achieve visibility that supports many operations such as optimizing the network or efficient procurement amongst others.
            The growth patterns of markets are also changing which is both a trend and opportunity in the realm of transport and logistics. The growth is no longer an issue of exports that emanate from Asia to North America or Europe (Damco, 2017). Instead, there are many other markets which make it more unstable, impulsive and disjointed. Therefore, players in the field have to adopt mechanisms that allow them to fulfill the market demands.  It occurs even under the idea that economic growth and populations are increasingly happening in large metropolitan areas that would require seamless and quick transportation and logistics management.
            Another issue that has emerged in this sector is that of compliance with the national and international laws. In most nations, some legislation prohibits bribery and corruption that affects the standard supply chains (Damco, 2017). Multinational corporations now do not ask that facilitation payments are made when they seek to export their commodities to other nations. Therefore, firms engaged in offering these services must ensure that their operations are transparent and meet the tenets of accountability.
References
Damco, H., N. (2017). ’12 Trends that are Shaping the Future of Logistics.’ Supply Chain. Retrieved from https://www.supplychaindigital.com/logistics/12-trends-are-shaping-future-logistics on November 7, 2018.
McGuigan, F. (March 16, 2017).’ Supply Chain 2017: Important Transportation Trends and Challenges.’ Logistics Viewpoints.  Retrieved from https://logisticsviewpoints.com/2017/03/16/supply-chain-2017-important-transportation-trends-and-challenges/ on November 7, 2017