Naysayers see the US/Mexico border as nothing but trouble, but the reality is the truck and rail traffic both ways represents over $ 200 b in a year in merchandise. BusinsessWeek has a story - A Border Transformed on how the border is using technology to keep the bad guys out, yet not stifle the vibrant trade. It must be the most high-tech border crossing in the world, far more sophisticated than the US-Canada one.
The article talks about usage of a number of new and established technologies:
a) Use of transponders to allow use of high speed lanes for those who qualify for the INS's SENTRI program
b) Electronic Pre-notification an hour before crossing - using supply chain concepts behind Advance Ship Notice (ASN) EDI transaction
c) The Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program to pre-certify manufacturers, importers, carriers
d) X-Ray, Gamma Ray detectors to scan trucks and rail cars and portable radiation detectors
What the article does not describe is the technology investments going into the trucks and the railways - the RFID, GPS Tracking, Route Planning and a whole bunch more. Not to mention all the INS, customs and other databases and analytical technologies.
As the Taco Bell commercial says - some one is Thinking outside the Bun here.
