Adoption of the dry port concept: a diffusion of innovation assessment

Paper in proceeding, 2018

Purpose: It has been established that dry ports can reduce seaport congestion and improve throughput rates due to movement of containers from road to rail. This study investigates the activities related to implementation of dry ports at three U.S. seaports: Jacksonville, Savannah and Charleston. These activities are then analysed considering diffusion of innovation attributes.
Design/methodology/approach: Data for this study was collected through face-to-face interviews at seaports of Jacksonville, Savannah and Charleston. 
Findings: It has been recognized that there are three components to successful dry ports:  (1) on-dock rail, (2) reliable inland connection and (3) a functional inland facility.  These three components have a diverse group of stakeholders, many of whom are unknown to one another; however when operating in coordination with one another these components create the dry port concept.