I still don't get it.

People who use to work with me will smile when reading this, but I still don't get it. Why don't ocean carriers invest in computer systems?

I just don't get it.

Here's an article from the American Shipper harping on the same theme, although their focus is "LSP", or Logistics Service Providers. I guess they don't really understand the uniqueness of each type of service provider.

Unless the logistics company (who is not the carrier) has installed some sort of tracking device with the shipment, they are at the mercy of the actual transportation company to provide status information.

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..systems provide essential nuts-and-bolts services to their customers. The vast majority of respondents listed “tracking and tracing,” “shipment booking,” “electronic booking” and “electronic shipping documentation” as the most critical transactional usages of their current TMS - all core foundational functions of TMS technology, or as one expert put it, “TMS 1.0.”
Worryingly, another key finding of the survey showed few LSPs have a long-term plan in place to upgrade or replace their current TMS.
Less than a quarter of the LSPs surveyed have budgeted funds for a TMS upgrade or replacement within the next 24 months. Another 21 percent said funds have not been budgeted, but are addressed within their firm’s five-year plan. A whopping 55 percent, however, said they have no plans to replace their current TMS within the next five years.
At the same time, LSPs are finding customers’ demands growing. The reason, as one industry expert explained, is simply the high-tech age in which we live.

If any of these companies had a brain, they would just contract with Amazon to handle their system needs.

When an LSP customer can order a book on Amazon, pay for it with a few clicks, and track the whole transaction from store to door via the Internet, this customer’s service expectations when it comes to its business shipments increase exponentially. Non-business world expectations are rapidly becoming business world demands that are being laid squarely at the door of LSPs.
The ultimate question is how long can this laissez-faire attitude persist towards TMS investment - something even LSPs acknowledge is a critical component of their daily business?
It is a challenge that LSPs, even with their freshly minted modern personas, must address with greater investment, more insightful long-range planning, and a commitment to current technology that places long-term customer satisfaction over short-term savings of simply doing nothing.
Success, whether it be in technology investment or in the maturation of their own business, will only be afforded to those that are proactive, that aggressively look beyond the curve, and recognize the importance of embracing innovation for every ounce of advantage it can possibly give them.
Darwin was right in more spheres of thought than he realized - only the strongest and the most intelligent will survive.