The intermodal supply chain has long endured friction caused by limited system interoperability, manual processes and inconsistent data integrity. In the 1970s and 1980s, Western European mainframe-driven electronic data interchange networks connected terminals, carriers, forwarders and customs for cargo declarations and clearances. By the early 2000s, this evolved into web-based community portals and, ultimately, integrated digital ecosystems serving port communities.
Port community systems expanded beyond customs and manifest exchange to link terminal operating systems with external stakeholders. Supporting applications added vehicle appointment booking, demurrage and detention billing, container event visibility and, most recently, Ocean Shipping Reform Act compliance.
Pre-COVID, pure-play visibility providers emerged with niche, API-driven tools helping shippers stitch together data from disparate, gateway-specific portals. By 2020, pandemic-driven disruption triggered a flood of new entrants, commoditizing freight-lifecycle information.
During that period, investors favored top-line growth over bottom-line performance. That dynamic has shifted. Cargo visibility is now a baseline expectation, not a competitive edge. Differentiated solutions must deliver executional control by accessing systems of record and orchestrating freight movement profitably.
The next phase of digital logistics is not about seeing more but doing more with what’s seen.
Technology creates value when accurate, real-time data powers automation and smarter freight flows. As exceptions surface, the data itself becomes cleaner and more trustworthy. Here, artificial intelligence plays a pivotal role, predicting outcomes, managing exceptions and transforming visibility into actionable intelligence and real-time decision-making. Downstream, these connected toolsets enable automated event management, billing, auditing, payment and reconciliation.
This turns digital logistics into a self-improving, adaptive ecosystem — one where visibility fuels intelligence and intelligence drives action.