Write about baggage handling services and how they use RFID tags to track and trace passenger bags. I have been very fortunate because I have only had one instance where my bags were mishandled. I say mishandled because they were not lost. After a late three-hour flight, I was tired and ready to go home. When I arrived at the airport, my bags were not on the baggage carousel. After filling out forms to describe the luggage and its contents, my bags arrived on the next flight about an hour later. The stress of not knowing where your bags are can now be avoided thanks to the latest mandate driven by Airports Council International and International Air Transport Association’s (IATA’s) Resolution 753, which was passed in June of 2018 (IATA, 2018). Before this directive, airlines such as Delta relied on barcodes to track lost baggage. Which means agents had to manually read each bag’s bar code to find a customer’s luggage and retag it for the new flight. So, you can just imagine how tedious that would be. Not to mention how easy it would be to miss a tag. Resolution 753 requires airlines to track bags at four points: surrender from the passenger, loading onto the aircraft, delivery to transfer area, and return to the passenger (Reid, 2019). According to Gianluigi Lo Giudice, Vice President of Alitalia Ground Operations, “The mishandling rate has been reduced by more than 40% compared to 2015 (IATA, 2018).” As of 2016, Delta Airlines has fully committed to the use of RFID and customers can track their bag’s journey using the Fly Delta mobile app (Prince, 2016). Delta handles 120 million bags annually and reports that the use of RFID has correctly identified 99.9 percent of all baggage (Prince, 2016). Delta installed RFID readers on their belt loaders, which read each bags RFID tag before it enters the plane. A flashing green light lets the agents know that the bag is being loaded onto the correct flight (Prince, 2018). According to Reid (2019), the RFID scan machines are more economical than the bar code readers. According to Andrew Price, the Head of Global Baggage Operations, IATA, “RFID is cheap, it can be used globally, and it provides a hugely effective tracking solution” (IATA, 2018). Reference IATA. (2018, December 10). RFID: Back to the future. Airlines. Retrieved from https://www.airlines.iata.org/analysis/rfid-back-to-the-future. Prince, P. (2016, April 29). Delta Gives Green Light to RFID Baggage Tracking. RFID JOURNAL. Retrieved from https://www.rfidjournal.com/delta-gives-green-light-to-rfid-baggage-tracking. Reid, J. (2019, June 3). IATA resolves to improve bag handling through RFID and real-time tracking. Business Traveller. Retrieved from https://www.businesstraveller.com/business-travel/2019/06/03/iataresolves-to-improve-bag-handling-through-rfid-and-real-time-tracking/. 2nd Student Roxanna Hanson Nothing moves without transportation, this is why firms are always looking for ways to improve their transportation methods. One of the ways companies implement improvements is through the use of technology. RFID technology is one of the tools that companies can turn to. This technology has been around for a while but has can be costly, now that the cost has started to decrease more and more companies are looking at it as a solution (Ting, Wang, & Ip, 2012). One of the areas where RFID have had a major impact is in the movement and tracking of standardized containers. Private companies and transportation companies frequently use standardized containers to move goods because they are easy to move with intermodal transportation (Ting, Wang, & Ip, 2012). These containers can be transported on tractor-trailer, rail cars and freight liner ships. 5/8/2020 Order 318486456 https://admin.writerbay.com/orders_available?subcom=detailed&id=318486456 3/7 The issues that arises with using these types of containers is that they all look very similar since they are built to the same size standards. It is easy to lose track of a specific container in a shipping yard, rail yard or anywhere these containers are stored. Firms are able to use RFID tags to help identify containers. Transportation ports can use RFID technology to monitor incoming and outgoing containers (Ting, Wang, & Ip, 2012). They have the ability to identify containers by using either passive or active RFID tags. They can set up RFID readers at their entrances and exits to capture the movement of containers. This ability allows them to collect a number of different performance measurements that will indicted the effectiveness of their operation. Additionally, they could share this information with their customers as a way of showing how long it takes their container to be off loaded and on to their next stop. References Ting, S., Wang, L., & Ip, W. (2012). A study on RFID adoption for vehicle tracking in container terminal. Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management, 5(1), 22–52. https://doi.org/10.3926/jiem.412 3rd Student Carl Tucker Hello Class, The product I have chosen to look at is cement on a Construction project. I will illustrate how RFID tags are increasing proficiency in delivery and decreasing the uncertainty of products not reaching their destination on time. When trailers are dispatched for a pickup of materials for construction projects. Most companies use RFID tags on the vehicles to identify the location the truck is supposed to go to and what product it will picking up. The also tend to have weighing scales that will measure the amount that they receive during pick up to ensure they have picked up the correct amount. Some trucks are setup where they also do a visual check in addition to the IT system to ensure that they have picked up the right material. The RFID checks the correct association of tractors and trailers. It also identifies to the driver that he has hitched up to the correct trailer usually identified with a “telematics system in the truck”(Transport, 2016). Now remember this system is also like a GPS so the one the truck has left the docking station and pick up the materials the main system can track the destination by sending a ping to that specific truck to find out the location of that truck. I had a case one time where I had a Mobile Housing Unit (MHU) stolen from an area before it was actually installed. Being that it was not fully installed the RFID tag was still located on the MHU. Once we went to the system and ping that actually RFID tag. We notified the police where the MHU was located and they proceeded to the location to retrieve the stolen MHU. TO make a long story short when they asked the residents where they received the MHU from they told them that a guy sold it to them for $10K. The driver from the vendor sold them the MHU. In conclusion RFID technology has increase delivery proficiency. Question: Do you think RFID tags will be used on all delivery packages in the future. Reference Transport Business. (2016, January 22). RFID in Transportation. Retrieved from https://www.transportbusiness.net/features/rfid-transportation 5/8/2020 Order 318486456 https://admin.writerbay.com/orders_available?subcom=detailed&id=318486456 4/7 4th Student Teshon Earl The organization called the Border and Transport Security (BTS) is responsible for protecting the Americans from terrorism that might be pilfered into the country through the cargo plane (Burns, 2019. BTS uses a high level analytical framework to understand better the complex phenomena that might play out during cargo shipment and transportation into the country. The department of homeland security (DHS) is among the government agencies charged with the responsibility of border security. The shipment of cargo must be made in such a way that it protects the rights of the American citizen and the suppliers. The DHS ensures that investigations are done into the contents of the imported cargo so that only acceptable consignments find their way into the country (Burns, 2019. There US coast guards and the US customs investigation and interior investigations are other agencies that are charged with the cargo security and the protection of the inbound cargo. The organizations are responsible for the maritime border protection and the other cargo security so that the country is always safe and protected from possible security breaches and terrorism. CRS is a report on border security initiated and developed by the congress of the United States of America to deal with the issues of import and export of goods (Burns, 2019. The reports develop strategies that the relevant organizations and government agencies should use to deal with the security of the business and the land. The reports were developed to analyze the possible security breach scenarios graphically and to tackle the breaches one by one in a manner that is both holistic and constitutional (Burns, 2019). The analysis of the operations that leads to the protection of the borders and the materials entering the border must always be re-evaluated so that should the criminals invent new methods, the government agencies will still nub them. References Burns, M. (2019). Containerized cargo security at the US–Mexico border: how supply chain vulnerabilities impact processing times at land ports of entry. Journal of Transportation Security, 12(1-2), 57-71. 5th Student William Paasewe After an entire week of speculations on effort to improve information sharing between agencies, and the U.S. government approach to push back borders for cargo security, we switched gears this week by identifying responsibility of different stakeholders in cargo security and providing analysis on how the CRS Report for security views border and transportation security. Prior to commencing my studies at APUS/AMU, I was of the belief, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) sole responsibilities was to screen bags and travelers at airport terminals. It was an absolute surprise to learn that TSA, which is perhaps, one of the leading stakeholders in cargo security, also manages security policies for railroads, buses, pipelines, ports, mass transit systems and highways. On the other-hand, Commercial Air Carriers are responsible for maintaining the security of passengers, baggage, and cargo entering airplanes in accordance with FAA's standards and guidelines. Third & foremost, Freight forwarders which is another important stakeholder, do recommend shipping solutions to minimize cost or environmental impacts and they aid greatly in securing cargo by determining efficient and cost effective methods of moving goods from one location to another. The Congressional Research Service Reports on border and transportation security was "eye-catching" and very intriguing. One of the report assessments indicates that most U.S. ports are publicly owned by a port authority, and many of the U.S. Marine terminals are operated by foreign-based companies which raises the 5/8/2020 Order 318486456 https://admin.writerbay.com/orders_available?subcom=detailed&id=318486456 5/7 issue of whether foreign marine terminal operations pose threat to U.S. Homeland Security (Frittelli & Lake, 2006). The Coast Guard is in charge of the security of port facilities and vessels which is a good thing, while Customs & Border Protection (CBP) is in charge of the security of cargo. Notwithstanding, these marine terminals are critical infrastructures that shouldn't be handed over to strangers lightly. There are indeed times when one should trust blindly (and those are the days of pre-9/11), just as there are times when one should not. As Quinn (n. d.) puts it, "wisdom consists in being able to tell one from the other." References Frittelli, J. & Lake, J. E. (2006, April 20). Terminal operations and their role in U.S. port and maritime security: CRS Report for Congress Quinn, D. (n. d.). Inspiring quotes: Retrieved from https://www.inspiringquotes.us/author/4832-daniel-quinn 6th Student Christopher Neal The security of the global supply chain relies upon many factors in order to achieve a safe and efficient supply chain. The CRS report for congress (2004) defines transportation security as securing the flow of people and goods along the nation’s highways, railways and waterways. The department of homeland security (DHS) has the responsibility of ensuring that maritime cargo, both air and sea have been secured. The Safe Port Act of (2006) was signed into law in October of 2006 with the aim of strengthening the government’s ability to protect seaports and maritime commerce from terrorist attacks(Bush, G 2006 p. 1817). This maritime responsibility can be further divided into other sectors. After 9/11 the USCG “Unites States Coast Guard” was tasked with its largest peace time security mission since WWII (Anonymous, 2004 p.55-56). The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2003 authorized a 7.5 billion fund package to help support the increased role (Anonymous, 2004 p.55-56). This increase was due in large part because of the added increase to port and maritime security posed by legislation following 9-11 and a war on two fronts both in Afghanistan and Iraq. Lobiondo(2006) highlights the fact that on September 10, 2001 the service was tasked with securing only 2% of port operations in the U.S. After the attacks the next day, their mission was overhauled and the securing of the 60% of the nations port operations were placed in their care. In summary, there are numerous stakeholders in the securing of the cargo coming into and leaving the ports of the United States. Numerous experts believe that government policy and legislation are enough to keep critical infrastructure safe from harm. Other experts believe that a human factor exists and that it should be the primary focus of security initiatives and training. This human factor includes such things as training for civilian seamen and port workers in identifying potential threats and procedures for reporting such instances the appropriate authorities in a timely manner. Reference: 2004 annual report of the congressional research service. (2005). https://www.scribd.com/doc/298019718/2004-Annual-Report-of-the-Congressional-Research-Service Anonymous. (2004). U.S. Coast Guard Reauthorization Bill Approved by Congress. Sea Technology, 45(5), 55–56. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198666929/ Bush, G. (2006). Remarks on Signing the SAFE Port Act. Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, 42(41), 1815–1817. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/195209261/ Lobiondo, F. (2006). Supporting the Coast Guard, Who Protect Our Homeland. Sea Technology, 47(1), 18,20. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198688829/