Today we took a trip to Yangshan Seaport, the largest deep sea port in the world. It handles over 32 million containers per year which carry around 736 million tons of goods all around the globe. We had to travel on the Donghai Bridge to get from the mainland to the port. This bridge is one of the longest in the world with an astounding length of 20.2 miles. For miles the only things in sight were ships and wind turbines. Once we reached the port, it seemed like endless shipping containers and cranes that went on farther than the eye could see.

Mac Sullivan, an employee for Toll Global Forwarding (top 50 fortune 500 company), elaborated on the logistics industry. Overall, firms in the industry deal with getting products from point A to Point B. The major modes of transport are air, ocean, trucking, rail, and express. The main theme of the trip today was obviously ocean, so he went into detail about freight forwarding. Freight forwarding is a third party agent that handles exports for a fee. It includes a variety of services that help companies export their product.

Sullivan went on to explain how he foresees the future of logistics. Since the industry lacks young talent, there is much room for improvement. For instance, with the implementation of mobile phones, one can track a product throughout its journey on the supply chain. After using the mobile phone over time, data trends can show you what part of the supply chain is least efficient and aim to fix the problem. It is evident that the use of data can streamline the optimization of the supply chain.

Overall, today’s visit peaked my instrest and got me thinking about a potential career in logistics, especially since the opportunities to advance the industry are present.