Federal FLOW initiative adds more West Coast ports

The Port of Oakland and the Northwest Seaport Alliance, which includes the Port of Seattle and Port of Tacoma, have joined the federal Freight Logistics Optimization Works (FLOW) initiative.

FLOW is a private-public partnership created and led by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) that helps create a shared picture of the U.S. supply chain for members, which include the nation’s busiest container ports, major ocean carriers and some of the largest retail importers.

Through the initiative, the USDOT collects, aggregates and anonymizes key information shared by participants on inbound containerized freight and aligns future demand volumes against current regional capacity to move ocean containers.

FLOW has more than 80 members, including the eight largest U.S. container ports, nine of the largest ocean carriers, and nine of the 20 largest retailers by imports.

“FLOW’s membership now reaches the five largest container ports on the West Coast, which will lead to more informed decisions across America’s supply chains," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a news release. "This work serves to improve efficiency and ultimately help lower costs for consumers."

FLOW will provide enhanced visibility of goods movement trends across the nation, and offer the added benefit of expanding and improving data sharing efforts throughout the supply chain, said Port of Oakland Executive Director Danny Wan.