A critical review of container security operations

ABSTRACT

Containers, which permit fast and safe handling between modal systems, are the main equipment used in intermodal transport. Unfortunately, enhancement of the efficiency and velocity of container operations has created a breach in traditional security, also known as container security. This paper presents a critical literature review of container security operations. We aim to identify current trends and future research directions in container security. We propose a classification framework based on the following elements: presenting the container security perspective, identifying threats, evaluating container security, balancing costs/benefits and the degree of security, balancing time savings/reduction and the degree of security, and securing containerized transportation processes. We discuss the current studies of these problems, the methodologies adopted and important insights into container security.

KEYWORDS:

• Container transportation
• container security
• security degree

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme [Grant Numbers N_PolyU531/16], and the scholarship from China Scholarship Council: [Grant Number 201604490170].