Page 37: of Marine News Magazine (September 2017)

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jump-start the COB service by pro- viding a $1.75 million grant for spe- cialized container loading equipment.

State and federal transportation of- ? cials, not just at NOLA, want to fully leverage all truck, rail, and maritime capabilities. Expanded COB opera- tions make a port truly multimodal; after all, ports are inherently intermo- dal. COB offers far-reaching bene? ts, and not just on waterways. One policy goal is for a transparent market pro- viding an apples-to-apples comparison of the costs associated with shipping by truck, rail and of course, via barge.

How freight moves has public policy implications. The US DOT calculates that the State of Louisiana saves $118 per round-trip when a 40-foot con- tainer travels by barge, not highway, be- tween New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

Or, put another way, Louisiana’s tax- payers provide a $118 round-trip subsi- dy to the truckers. That’s big money for state highway of? cials. If more freight shifted to the maritime sector, high- ways would function more like they are supposed to and less like parking lots.

NOLA:

New Policies = New Business

NOLA’s investments are driving new business. In addition to CN’s MOU,

Janine Mansour, NOLA’s Commer- cial Director, said that all six ? rst- class railroads have expressed interest in expanding links between NOLA and numerous inland cities, including

Memphis, Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis,

Dallas and Kansas City. (NOLA is the only US port served by all six ? rst-class roads.) “Overall container volumes have grown signi? cantly,” Mansour said. “The Port now handles about 540,000 TEUs on an annual basis.”

In February, French container trans- portation and shipping company

CMA CGM started direct, all-water

Asia container service. NOLA of? cials www.marinelink.com MN 37