The need for CakeBoxxes was inspired by inspired by the theft of shoes from an onboard container transiting the Straits of Malacca. But it wasn’t long before, with the help of the Coast Guard, that their best feature was realized. Speed.
CakeBoxxes look and act like any other container when they are moving. Except for the absence of doors, they are indistinguishable from any distance of more than a few feet.
The most meaningful difference between CakeBoxxes and typical containers is the knowledge people have about a CakeBoxx’s contents as it approaches them and the confidence they have in this knowledge.
A great majority of terminal operations around the world are physically confined. New terminals can be opened; for example Mexico’s development of the Punta Colonet, Kansas City Southern’s investment in Puerta Mexico at Toluca and the HPH investment in Ensenada all reflect the intense interest in having future capacity to serve the US Midwest and Northeast markets.
But fixed real estate boundaries and other political realities mean that ports like LA/Long Beach must improve their throughputs, what we call Terminal Velocity, by improving their methods.
For many years improving Terminal Velocity meant a new rail line or roadway. For most U.S. ports this is no longer a reliable possibility. Automation has been a big improvement; the digital control of container movements from the moment a gantry made its connection till they were, usually, at rest in a pile is much shorter, but they often still come to rest in a pile.
Unfortunately, there have been few secondary benefits for CBP, the LOC’s, or their customers, the cargo owners. And it appears that existing terminals can only do business as usual for as long as possible, and watch as carriers, one by one, move to other facilities.
CakeBoxxes are different.
Ironically, making them harder to breach has resulted in a design that is easier to search, and very easy to load and unload.
All functioning container ports already have the necessary equipment to do quick, physical searches right on the terminal properties. Some ports, for weather or security reasons, may want to do these searches inside a building and these buildings are often already in place for CBP or port exit processing.
Lifting a CakeBoxx lid is not a big deal. What is a big deal is the fact that the assumed knowledge about any CakeBoxx cargo can be very quickly verified by an actual look at the contents.
It is hard to breach a CakeBoxx anytime and nearly impossible while on board a ship or train. But, if there is any reason to suspect any CakeBoxx, for any reason, at any time, it can be quickly verified.
CakeBoxxes are both harder to breech and more likely to be searched. This combination makes them, less attractive to the bad guys, more trustworthy and much more likely to go directly from the ship’s deck to wheeled transport off the terminal.
At a conference in Dubai, we asked several representatives from terminal operating companies if after seeing evidence that CakeBoxxes had higher average velocities across their properties, would they pass the cost savings on to the ocean carriers?
These individuals spoke for more than 75% of the world’s terminal properties - they all said yes.