Problems in the North American Transportation Industry

Problems in the North American Transportation Industry
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Abstract
The transportation industry is a key component in the development of the economy of any particular region. It influences other industries such as agriculture, touring, trade among others. It also influences the social-economic development objectives such as employment, production, property values, business activities, and investment and tax revenues. For this reason, it is essential for any region to deal with the challenges that arise in the transport industry and develop appropriate solutions to the difficulties as to safeguard the economy. The purpose of this research is to provide an overview of North America transport problems and logistics challenges as well as provide the possible solution to the challenges. The focus of the paper will be on the major countries within the North American region which include the USA, Canada, Mexico, Nicaragua, Bahamas, Costa Rica among others. The main challenges addressed in the paper are non-reliable and non-resilient systems, losses as a result of accidents, poor development patterns, natural hazards such as volcanoes and fires, complex inter-modal sequences, over dependency on road transport, and language barriers.

Introduction
The transportation industry is a key component in the development of the economy of any particular region. It influences other industries such as agriculture, touring, trade among others. It also influences the social-economic development objectives such as employment, production, property values, business activities, and investment and tax revenues.

In the North American region, the expansion of trade among the member countries which include the USA, Canada, Mexico, Nicaragua, Bahamas, and Costa Rica among others has placed on the significance of the transport industry and consequently called for more efficiency in transportation.
Despite the efforts by the member states to improve the modes, infrastructures, networks, and flows in the transportation system, transportation in North America still faces numerous challenges. Some of the challenges are beyond human control while others can be controlled through the development of better infrastructures and inter-regional policies. For instance, natural calamities such as volcanoes, tornadoes, snowfalls, and forest fires are beyond human control and the member states can only counter such problems by being resilient. However, other challenges such as traffic congestion, poor regional transport policies, and poorly developed infrastructures can be controlled by the member states.
In North America, the increase in global business development as a result of economic liberalization has increased the rate of transformation to international business and subsequently demanded better transport logistics. According to Tseng et al. (2005), the reliability, predictability, and cost-effectiveness in transport logistics depend on a well-coordinated transport network. Therefore, this paper purports to identify the main challenges in the transport industry in North America that are barriers to trade facilitation and the exigency to concentrate on regional integration strategies to solve these challenges. The study has hence analyzed the challenges faced by these regions in terms of infrastructure development such a road, rail networks, and airport congestions that provide corridor routing for commercial trade among the member states of the North American region. It has also analyzed the challenges in terms of the human resources whereby the transportation industry particularly the road transport, encounter truck driver shortages and the air transport that is faced by language difference challenges.
Literature review
Movement of the commercial trade from a global perspective has witnessed a well-coordinated transport network. Firms in different countries have registered tremendous growth which has been enhanced by economic liberalization (Rodrigue 2013). Over the years, developed states have managed to grow their economies by using the global approach village approach whereby importers and exporters can intact on the online platform and establish deals that involve the massive movement of commodities using the different modes of transport consolidated by different players such as freight forwarders. Irrespective of the distance involved in moving the commodities, transport logistics operations influence the efficiency of the commodities being moved, with speed, cost efficiency, and reliability.
In North America, the transportation industry comprises of varied transportation systems which include railway lines that extend from the USA to Mexico to motorways that extend hundreds of miles. The railway network system in Canada, the USA, and Mexico connects most of the major and minor towns, the railheads extend from Hay River in Canada to Tapachula Mexico, through the USA. Similarly, the road networks are extensive and vary in quality. In some regions, the roads are of poor quality filled with gravel while some are seasonal such as the ice roads. The USA forms the largest road network in North America and the world. Apart from the roads and the railways, waterways remain to be an important mode of transport in North America. The waterways are mainly used in the transportation of heavy cargo from American Midwest to the overseas markets. For instance, Minnesota and the Thunder Bay still cater for large cargo ships despite being inland cities.
Problems facing the North American transportation industry
Countries in the North American region face common challenges in the transportation industry. Some of the challenges include:
Non-reliable and non-resilient systems
Losses as a result of accidents
Poor development patterns
Natural hazards such as volcanoes and fires
Over dependency on road transport
Language barrier
Infrastructure related challenges
Non-reliable and non-resilient systems
The transportation systems in North America operate at maximum capacity for a limited period of the day. The periods are particularly limited when unpredicted events such as extreme weather, traffic congestion, and crashes are experienced. Such events to a large extent disrupt the normal transportation activities. for instance, in metropolitan areas, motorists using the intercity planes, trains and buses experience frequent delays as a result of slowed transport system expansion which despite the rapidly growing population. In such cases, motorist and commodities that should take twenty moved to be moved within the major metropolitan area take up to sixty minutes. Consequently, the delays increase the cost of transportation which particularly for freight companies that use trucks to transport shipped goods.
The geographical layout of North America makes transportation systems vulnerable to many types of hazards including terrorist attacks, hurricanes, and tornadoes particularly the ports. Given the size and number of vehicles that enter and exit large ports per hour, the rate of collisions can be very high, and consequently, the ports operations are hindered. Since proper measures have not been taken to ensure that the collisions do not occur frequently, their occurrence affects the region’s economy negative.
In Canada, extreme weather conditions are common. Due to the extreme conditions which are often are accompanied by precipitation, the hydraulic design standards of logistics companies are affected. Since some of the designs are not engineered and constructed to standards and codes, they remain largely they fail to withstand the conditions thereby affecting the transportation of goods within the country and to the neighboring regions. In some instances, when the weather is extreme, the organizations are forced to suspend their activities. For instance, in 2015, MBTA suspended their services in three different days in winter thereby causing significant inconveniences. The cause of the suspension may be attributed to poor and non-reliable resilient systems. Following the three incidents, MBTA prioritized on expanding the infrastructure and upgrading of aging machinery.
Losses as a result of accidents
Accidents in the transportation industry are common not only in North America but also in other regions of the world. The accidents do not only affect the individuals involved in the accidents but also the logistic companies. In North America, numerous accidents have been experienced over the past few years resulting in property damage and loss of life. Although most of the accidents are experienced on the roads as road transport is the most commonly used means of transport, it is unfortunate that no one is bound to tell which mode of transport is safer than the other.
Accidents in the transport industry in North America result from numerous causes including human errors and natural disasters and regardless of the cause, the cause losses which affect the economy of the region directly or indirectly. In the USA, more than 5000 deaths and more than 120000 injuries are experienced every year (Grant and Lilliard 2009). 15% of the accidents involve freight fright trucks while 78% involve other vehicles. The estimated losses from the accidents add up to $1 trillion whereby $277 billion are direct losses resulting from damages. From the accidents involving trucks, 18% are attributed to drunk driving while 21% are attributed to speeding.
Other than the road accidents, maritime and air accidents are also a major challenge in North America. The accidents are mainly influenced by non-human causes such as hurricanes. For instance, in 2011, a Canadian First Air Flight lost control as a result of poor weather and crashed killing twelve of the fifteen passengers. In the USA, a collision of a ship on the Mississippi River in 2008 resulted in a loss of $275 million per day (Mayada and Yun 2013). In Mexico, maritime accidents are common. The latest of the accidents include the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and capsizing of cruise vessels. According to the maritime statistical data, 75% of the maritime fires result from human errors.
Natural hazards
The geographical location of most of the North American countries such as the USA, Canada, Haiti, Guatemala, Canada, and the surrounding islands exposes them to numerous natural disasters such as tropical storms, volcanoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes. The events are often associated with secondary disasters such as mad movement, ocean surges, and flooding. These events disrupt transportation by destroying the means of transport such as railway lines, roads, and airports. The disasters furthermore cause direct damage to goods in transit resulting in loses the logistic firms. Mexico, Haiti, and the southern regions of North America are prone to earthquakes; the USA is prone to tropical storms and hurricanes while Canada is affected by avalanches which are triggered by rain, snow, earthquakes, and warm temperatures.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2017), earthquakes are the most destructive natural hazards. The earthquakes primarily disrupt transportation systems and cause damage to goods in transit. Apart from the damages, the earthquakes restrict movement of emergency vehicles such as fire trucks and ambulances. The principal causes of earthquakes in the North American region are seismic waves which tilt highways, railway lines, and initiate floods at the coastal regions. The damage to transportation as a result of earthquakes can be categorized depending on the cause of the earthquake into ground failure, vibration damage, faulting, and tsunami. In-ground failure, the earthquake results from tectonic forces in the form of landslides and ground cracks. In faulting, the earthquake result from surface cracks which cross across the highways and railways. Recent earthquakes to have been experienced in the region include the January 2010 Haiti earthquake which caused a major pullback in the transport industry as well as life loss.
Over dependency on road transport
In North America, road transport is extremely extensive and connects nearly all the major cities and towns. The road networks began taking serious competition against the railway transport after the World War Two. For instance, the US financed the construction of more than three hundred thousand miles of transcontinental highways which include forty thousand miles of limited access multilane roads. The Canadian government, on the other hand, financed the construction of the Trans Canadian highway which offers coast to coast route. Similarly, the Pan American highway from Mexico connects Central America countries. The highways enable trucks to haul goods from one country to another. Although there are several advantages of using the road transport to transport goods, the numerous road networks have made North America states over-rely on road transport. Over-relying on the road transport comes hand in hand with numerous challenges.
One of the challenges resulting from over-dependence on road transport includes congestion. The increased number of trucks getting into town increases the traffic congestion in the towns. As a result, the goods to be transported take longer duration than expected and subsequently the cost of transportation increases. In North America, Vancouver has been ranked as the leading city in traffic congestion. Other cities include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, and Seattle. On average, a resident in Vancouver spends thirty minutes I traffic delays which adds up to ninety-three hours in a year.
Other challenges that result from over-dependence on road transport include truck parking, truck driver shortages, compliance, safety and accountability, transportation infrastructure, and driver distraction and retention. Truck parking is a major problem particularly in the urban centers where the population is high. As a result of the limited parking space, truck drivers are forced to park their trucks in an unsafe location. On the other hand, the driver shortage is a common challenge, particularly in the US. For instance, the American Truck association estimates that a shortage of 50,000 drivers exists. Furthermore, driver distraction has contributed to the increased rates of accidents on roads and consequently results in damage to the cargo in transit.
Language barrier
At the global level, communication is a key component in the transport industry, and one of the key hindrances to effective communication is the language barrier. Language difference in the transport industry results from a large number of parties involved. Engaging in the transport industry with parties using different languages becomes a significant challenge on multiple levels for several reasons. Firstly, when engaging in the industry with people from different linguistic backgrounds, it becomes difficult to create a team of diverse professionals. Consequently, an industry lacks a team of professions; it is likely to face challenges which include delays in making deliveries and unreliability.
North America is a melting pot of cultures. The region particularly the US was developed based on the belief that people can chase their dreams when they get to America. For this reason, the American population comprises of people who speak different languages. According to the US census bureau, approximately twenty-one percent of the population uses a language other than English at home. While a majority of the people uses English at home and when performing their day to day activities, a significant number of them use Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Arabic. The composition of these languages interferes with communication and consequently affects the transport industry.
Infrastructure related challenges
In most developing and developed countries, infrastructures remain to be a significant challenge affecting the transport industry. Since transport infrastructure such as roads, airports, seaports, and custom processes determine the efficiency of doing business, it, therefore, has direct impacts on the economic growth of a region. Good transport infrastructure encourages investment from foreign investors as they carefully assess whether an inefficient transport infrastructure can damage their bottom line.
Currently, the transportation and border infrastructure in North America cannot support the expanding transport demands of the region. The region relies on old infrastructure and transport management systems in all the modes of transport. Furthermore, Blank (2008) believes that a significant number of the countries in the region still implement regulatory barriers that to the adaptation of better transportation systems.
Recommendation and conclusion
From the research, it is evident that North America is facing serious challenges in the transport industry. Some of the challenges are non-reliable and non-resilient systems, losses as a result of accidents, poor development patterns, natural hazards such as volcanoes and fires, infrastructural challenges, over dependency on road transport, and language barriers. Some of the measures that the region should take to counter the challenges include
The agencies established to build the transport networks should increase the rate of developing the networks and develop more efficient networks. Since the individual modes of transport are managed and funded independently, the agencies should take advantage by optimizing the network performance.
The governments of each state should focus on disaster preparedness and develop resilient transport networks. According to Walker and Salt (2006), the resilience system should value diversity, variability, and modularity. The developers should acknowledge slow variables, social capital, as well as innovation. By structuring the resiliency planning based on these values, and then North America can operate from a shared goal.
The challenge of language barrier can be approached from a multifaceted perspective. The regional members should decide on a common language and invest in teaching the people to communicate using the chosen language.

References
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Blank Stephen (2008). A North American Transportation Infrastructure Strategy. North American center for trans-border studies, Arizona state university, USA.
Mayada, O., & Yun, A. (2013). Resilience of networked infrastructure systems: Analysis and measurement.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (January 31, 2017). Earthquake Damage to Transportation Systems. DATA.GOV. retrieved (January 30, 2018) https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/earthquake-damage-to-transportation-systemsNeeley, G. W., & Richardson, L. E. (March 01, 2009). The Effect of State Regulations on Truck-Crash Fatalities. American Journal of Public Health, 99, 3, 408-415.
Rodrigue J (2013). Supply Chain Management, Logistics Changer and the Concept of Friction. [Department of Global Studies and Geography Hofstra University, Hampstead, New York, United states 11549]
Tseng Y, Yue WL, Taylor MA (2005). The Role of Transport in Logistics Chain. [Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, 5: 1657-1672.
Walker, B., Salt, D., & Reid, W. (2012). Resilience thinking: Sustaining ecosystems and people in a changing world. Island Press, Washington.Bottom of Form
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