Diffusion of Innovation Assessment of Adoption of the Dry Port Concept

Journal article, 2019

Dry ports, when implemented effectively, reduce seaport congestion, improve seaport throughput and, due to movement of containers from road to rail, reduce harmful emissions. This study investigates implementation of dry ports at five U.S. seaports, which is then analysed considering diffusion of innovation attributes.  Data for the study was collected through face-to-face interviews at US East Coast seaports of Miami, Everglades, Jacksonville, Savannah and Charleston. To ensure validity, the triangulation of data sources has been done; i.e. a number of secondary sources were used, such as reports, internal and external documents as well as site visits to the facilities. It has been recognized that there are three components to successful dry port concept: on/near-dock rail, reliable inland rail connection and a functional inland intermodal 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, create the innovation of the dry port concept. If the attributes of successful innovations are understood, with respect to their influence specifically on dry ports, then they can be managed to contribute to the successful implementation of dry ports. The novelty of the research lies in its approach of using diffusion of innovation attributes that have been historically proven to impact the adoption rates of innovations to provide insight into the adoption of the dry port concept.