High-tech transportation: last frontier leading the way in worldwide shipping innovation.

• Author: Colby, Nicole A. Bonham

"As offshore development leads to larger structures headed to deeper, more remote locations, the need for barges to transport topsides, jackets, and associated equipment to these locations creates an opportunity for Crowley to continue our traditional leadership role in the large barge market."

--Tom Crowley, Jr. Chairman. President and CEO Crowley Maritime Corp.

The process of moving goods from one place to another has become an exercise in high technology and intricate security, as transportation requirements worldwide change to fit a highly scrutinized transport infrastructure. Goods shipments to Alaska are no different, transiting a highly technical network offering the customer both a high level of accountability and an increased sense of deadline delivery. Transport companies operating in the Great Land have responded promptly to new federal and international requirements for cargo and freight transportation, at times leading the industry in Pacific Rim and worldwide shipping innovation.

Location, Location, Location

Alaska's unique geographic location has likely lent to its faster-than-average response to transportation innovations. In contrast to common misperceptions that Alaska is remote and not easily accessible, the opposite is actually true. Because of the state's pivotal--albeit sometimes challenging--location at the top of the world, separated from its native country by international borders and the North Pacific, the state is wrought with high-tech transportation infrastructure, both water and airborne. Because the state was already well tested in the mechanics of moving goods long distances reliably, the heightened security measures of the post-9/11 business culture were already in play.

Companies were already developing and testing measures and products to track and account for goods shipments with increased accountability and reliability--simply due to a natural business effort to answer increased customer demand. After all, despite its distant geographic location from the world's financial and political centers, Alaska has long been connected technologically and via its role as a key player in the world's natural resource and construction industries. The state has long played host to some of the largest and savviest multinational companies of global industry--customers who naturally require the latest and greatest level of technical support, especially in the delivery of critical cargo and freight.

Innovation: Products...