The COVID-19 pandemic and its disruptions to the supply chain in 2020 and 2021 made it clear that a tool was needed for shippers and cargo owners to be able to improve planning and make better operational decisions. At the Port of Long Beach, that need became the Supply Chain Information Highway – free-to-stakeholders cargo visibility service software.
In late 2021, the Port partnered with a leading tech firm, St. Louis-based UNCOMN, to create the Supply Chain Information Highway. Since then, the partners have worked with beneficial cargo owners, ocean carriers, marine terminal operators, railroads, trucking companies, labor and others in the goods movement industry to gather and aggregate container movement data. By increasing cargo visibility, the Supply Chain Information Highway delivers a record of the most recent container movement through the ports complex, helps mitigate delays and aids the entire goods movement industry from end to end and coast to coast.
The Supply Chain Information Highway is being built to be compatible with similar port community data systems within the maritime logistics industry, with a goal of using the tool at other U.S. seaports. Agencies including the Northwest Seaport Alliance, Port of Oakland, Utah Inland Port Authority, Port Miami, South Carolina Ports, Port Authority NY/NJ and Port of Hueneme have signed on as partners in the initiative.
In March 2025 at the annual Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference held in Long Beach, the Port and UNCOMN unveiled three public-facing features of the Supply Chain Information Highway recently added to the Port of Long Beach website:
- Public Port Container Track and Trace, allowing users to locate containers throughout the Port.
- Port Operations Dashboard, displaying operations metrics.
- Beneficial Cargo Owner (BCO) Dashboard, which allows registered users an in-depth view and access to data related to the movement of their cargo.