Figure 1 shows detention fees DOD accrued from fiscal  years 2003 through 2012. To do so, they incorporated  recommendations by DOD audit agencies and other organizations aimed  at improving container management. However, it is uncertain whether all  of the recommendations have been incorporated into DOD policy as  appropriate because the department does not have a comprehensive list  of the recommendations that have been made over the years. DOD’s Container- Management Policy and Guidance Incorporate Some Recommendations to Improve Container Management

Since the early years of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, DOD officials  have made efforts to improve container management in the CENTCOM  area of responsibility. Leadership’s responsibility for container management in the CENTCOM  area of responsibility is addressed in the Container Detention  memorandum signed by both the commander of U.S. Transportation  Command and CENTCOM in August 2012.Transportation Command officials, this memorandum was published as a  direct result of a recommendation made in a Joint Logistics Board report,  also published in 2012, that included additional recommendations aimed  at enhancing senior leaders’ understanding of container-management  challenges and detention-fee payments and enforcing compliance with  previously published container-management policy as outlined in  CENTCOM’s Container Management Letter of Instruction. According to U.S. DOD Cannot Ensure That All Recommendations Addressing Container Management in the CENTCOM Area of Responsibility Have Been Incorporated in Policy and Guidance as Appropriate

Notwithstanding DOD’s efforts to improve container management in the  CENTCOM area of responsibility by either updating existing or developing  new policy and guidance in response to recommendations made by DOD  and other organizations, DOD cannot ensure recommendations have  been addressed in policy and guidance as appropriate. However, DOD did not provide  answers for the remaining 40 recommendations. DOD Has Taken Steps to Manage and Reduce Shipping- Container Detention Fees in Afghanistan, but Its Ability to Manage and Reduce These Fees Is Limited

Since mid-2012, DOD has taken a number of steps to manage and  reduce shipping-container detention fees incurred for the untimely return  of commercial shipping containers used in Afghanistan. The joint  memorandum also established a requirement within the CENTCOM area  of responsibility that within 15 days of a shipping container’s arrival,  receiving organizations are to acknowledge receipt of the container,  unload the container, and notify the responsible carrier that its container  is available for pickup. DOD’s Incomplete and Inaccurate Container- Management Data Limits Its Ability to Manage and Reduce Detention Fees in Afghanistan

Although DOD has estimated that there will be a decrease in the amount  of detention fees it will pay, its ability to manage and reduce detention  fees for containers subject to them in Afghanistan is limited by incomplete  and inaccurate data on the number and location of containers in country. Moreover, DOD has not assessed contributing factors to determine the  root causes for its incomplete and inaccurate data. However, our analysis of DOD’s container-management  system data and carrier delivery data for the end of each month in 2013  showed that DOD had not recorded in the container-management system  about 16 percent of the carrier-owned containers delivered and received  in Afghanistan. However, DOD has not identified the root cause or causes  for the inaccurate inventory data that this recommendation and the  selected technology are intended to address, which is critical if the  department is to correct the procedural weaknesses that contribute to  inaccurate and incomplete data. To help ensure DOD’s container-management system has more complete  and accurate data, and DOD is better positioned to assess progress in  managing containers to reduce detention fees, we recommend that the  Secretary of Defense direct the Commander CENTCOM to  identify the root cause or causes for the procedural weaknesses in the  handling of containers and the extent to which they contribute to the  incomplete and inaccurate recording of container-management data in  theater, and develop and implement a corrective action plan with effective  solutions for the root causes identified that provide for completion of  corrective measures. DOD concurred with the first recommendation that the Secretary of  Defense develop a comprehensive list of recommendations made by  DOD agencies and other organizations, and make the information  available for policymakers to incorporate, as appropriate, into new or  existing container-management policy and guidance.
Why GAO Did This Study

DOD uses DOD or commercial carrier shipping containers to transport supplies worldwide. Container management has been a long-standing challenge. DOD has paid detention fees of about $823 million from 2003 through 2012 for retaining containers longer than allowed, primarily due to operations within CENTCOM, including Afghanistan, where fees continue to accrue. GAO was asked to review DOD's efforts to address container-management challenges and the accumulation of detention fees.
This report assesses the extent to which (1) DOD policy and guidance incorporate recommendations addressing container-management challenges in CENTCOM's area of responsibility, and (2) DOD has managed and reduced detention fees for containers in Afghanistan since 2012. GAO reviewed prior audit reports to identify container-management recommendations; analyzed data such as container type and ownership from 2010 through 2013; and interviewed DOD officials.

What GAO Found

Since the early years of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, Department of Defense (DOD) efforts to improve container management in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility have included either updating existing or developing new container-management policy and guidance. However, the department cannot provide reasonable assurance that all recommendations addressing container management in the CENTCOM area of responsibility have been incorporated in DOD's policy or guidance, as appropriate. DOD officials incorporated some recommendations made by DOD audit agencies and other organizations aimed at improving container management into policy and guidance. For example, in August 2012 the commanders of CENTCOM and U.S. Transportation Command issued a joint memorandum outlining leadership's responsibility for container management in the CENTCOM area of responsibility that was a direct result of a 2012 Joint Logistics Board report that recommended corrective actions to enhance senior leaders' understanding of container management. However, DOD does not have a comprehensive list of the corrective actions that have been recommended over time. Without such a list, DOD cannot reasonably ensure that all of the recommendations have been incorporated into policy and guidance as appropriate. For example, of the 95 corrective actions that GAO identified from reports by DOD audit agencies and other organizations issued from 2003 through 2013, DOD officials could not provide information on steps taken to address 40 of the corrective actions.
Since 2012, DOD has taken steps to manage and reduce shipping container detention fees incurred due to the untimely return of commercial carrier-owned shipping containers in Afghanistan, but its ability to manage and reduce these fees is limited by inaccurate and incomplete data. In August 2012, DOD established the requirement that within 15 days of a shipping container's arrival: (1) receipt of the container was to be recorded by the unit in-theater, (2) the container was to be unloaded, and (3) the responsible carrier was to be notified that its container was available for pickup. DOD also developed a set of tracking metrics to monitor progress in meeting this requirement. However, incomplete and inaccurate data about the location and number of containers accruing detention fees hindered DOD's ability to manage and reduce detention fees for containers in Afghanistan. For example, GAO analysis of DOD's container-management system data and carrier delivery data for each month in 2013 showed that DOD had not recorded in the container-management system about 16 percent of the carrier-owned containers delivered and received in Afghanistan. DOD has identified factors, or procedural weaknesses, that may contribute to incomplete and inaccurate data; however, it has not assessed the extent to which these weaknesses have contributed to data inaccuracies, determined the root causes of these weaknesses, or developed a corrective-action plan for correcting them. Without an assessment of the root causes and a corrective-action plan, it will be difficult for DOD to have complete and accurate data, which could limit its ability to manage and reduce detention fees for containers in Afghanistan and in future contingency operations.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that DOD (1) develop a list of recommendations and incorporate them into policy and guidance and (2) identify root causes for procedural weaknesses that contribute to inaccurate, incomplete container data and develop and implement a corrective plan. DOD concurred with the first recommendation and partially concurred with the second because it partially disagreed to whom GAO directed the recommendation. GAO concurred and modified the recommendation.