Grey Boxing Still an Issue
Since the inception of containerisation decades ago, the container shipping industry continues to face an issue of grey boxing as a huge cost.
“These empty backhauls result in wasted resources and increased environmental impact,” according to Harsh Vardhan Gupta, co-founder, Match Log Solutions.
According to the World Shipping Council, 20 percent of all container movements globally are empty.
“Drewry’s shipping consultancy estimates that around 60 million empty containers are moved globally each year, leading to substantial unnecessary fuel consumption and pollution,” said Mr. Gupta.
Accurate forecasting and demand planning are fundamental in minimising empty container runs. By leveraging advanced data analytics and machine learning, shipping companies can predict demand more accurately and ensure containers are positioned where they are most needed, he said.
Collaboration between shipping companies can also mitigate the problem of empty container runs, he said. There are platforms that facilitate the interchange of containers between different shipping lines, reducing the need for empty repositioning.
One innovative approach to tackling empty container runs is triangulation. This strategy involves arranging for containers to pick up a new load from a location near their drop-off point, rather than returning empty to the origin.
According to a report by the Boston Consulting Group, implementing triangulation could reduce empty container movements by up to 15 percent, translating into significant cost savings and environmental benefits.
Companies like Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd are already investing in triangulation solutions to optimise their container logistics.
“The advent of smart containers equipped with IoT (Internet of Things) devices is another game-changer,” said Mr. Gupta.
“These containers can provide real-time data on their location, condition, and availability. Such transparency enables more efficient container tracking and repositioning, ensuring that empty containers are quickly identified and rerouted to areas with high demand,” he said.
Another option to analytics and collaboration would also be folding containers and whilst there has been some development in this area, large scale, commercial deployment is still something on the horizon.
