Insights

Supply chains run on timing. They always have. But during the COVID pandemic, that rhythm broke—and for a while, it stayed broken. Ships floated offshore for days and ports buckled under backlogs. In late 2021, the Ports of LA and Long Beach had more than 100 container ships waiting to be unloaded. Freight costs skyrocketed. And while things have somewhat leveled out today, the aftershocks are still with us.

In early 2024, repeated Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea forced carriers to detour around the Cape of Good Hope, adding 10 to 15 days and up to $2 million in extra fuel per round trip. That same year, record-low water levels at the Panama Canal slashed daily transit slots by more than a third, pushing north-south trades onto longer routes. Meanwhile, in 2025, uncertain tariff policies remain a moving target. Each policy shift can swing your landed cost math by double-digit percentages.

Which brings us to location intelligence.

If you’re in logistics—or anywhere adjacent—it’s no longer enough to manage based on static schedules or outdated assumptions. Real-time data isn’t a luxury; it’s survival. The companies that win are the ones that can see congestion before it hits, reroute on the fly, and make decisions based on what’s actually happening—not what was true last week.

Why Old-School Planning Falls Short

Traditional freight planning was always part art, part guesswork. You built a schedule, crossed your fingers, and maybe called ahead to ask if the port looked busy.

But now?

Port bottlenecks can form overnight. Tariffs can jump mid-voyage. Customs protocols can change between departure and arrival. And too often, each node in the supply chain—ports, carriers, trucking firms, etc.—is still operating in its own data silo. That’s a recipe for delays and bloated costs.

What Modern Location Intelligence Looks Like

This isn’t just about adding another GPS ping to your dashboard. We’re talking full-stack geospatial intelligence, built to integrate everything from weather data to port throughput to AIS signals from vessels at sea.

Here’s how it works:

• Real-Time Data Feeds
  • AIS tracking shows exactly where ships are and how fast they’re moving.
  • Satellite imagery spots port backups visually, in near real-time.
  • Port authority APIs pull data straight from terminals—berth availability, gate times, dwell stats, etc.
• Predictive Analytics
  • Feed your historical and real-time data into a machine learning model.
  • Execute on that data by forecasting congestion 24 to 48 hours out.
  • Factor in tariffs (as best you can), vessel performance, and even projected labor shortages at key ports.
• Route Optimization Tools
  • Reroute vessels proactively (such as from Long Beach to Oakland) based on expected dwell times, fuel burn, and slot availability.
  • Layer in Google Cloud Vertex AI or other models to auto-generate recommendations in real time.
• Visual Dashboards
  • Map it all. Let teams, from dispatch to strategy, see the same operational picture.
  • Set up alerts when weather, port loads, or wait times cross a defined threshold.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Take the Port of Los Angeles’ Return Signal tool. It gave trucking firms a heads-up on when containers would actually be ready, cutting down on idle trips and improving throughput. That kind of shared data model is where this whole space is heading.

The Payoff

This isn’t theoretical. There are clear wins:

• Lower fuel costs: Less idling and fewer unexpected delays.
• Fewer stockouts: Better route predictability means tighter inventory control.
• Leverage in negotiations: With hard data on costs and routes, you can push back on bloated fees or unreliable partners.

How Woolpert Digital Innovations and Google Cloud Fit In

We help build these systems, end-to-end:

• BigQuery, Vertex AI, Google Earth Engine, and Weather Next turn raw port feeds into forecasts.
• Google Maps Platform lets you visualize the whole chain in context.
• Cloud-native architecture means you can ingest and scale without melting down your infrastructure.

Security? Built in. Multi-stakeholder access? No problem.

Getting Started

Not sure where to start? Run a pilot. Here’s what we recommend:

•     Pick a single route, such as Asia to the U.S. West Coast.
•     Set up dashboards to monitor vessel data, weather, and port signals.
•     Track a few KPIs, such as on-time performance, fuel spend, and dwell times.
•     Refine and scale.

We can help with all of that. Small wins build trust. Once people see how much easier it gets with the right data, you’ve got momentum.

Final Thoughts

Post-COVID supply chains aren’t getting any simpler. Tariffs shift, port capacity ebbs and flows, and demand patterns are increasingly erratic. If your logistics plan still relies on static routes and one-off updates, you’re flying blind.

Location intelligence gives you the visibility and flexibility to operate smarter—whether you’re moving containers, managing a fleet, or rethinking your infrastructure planning altogether.