Page 41: of Maritime Logistics Professional Magazine (May/Jun 2017)

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LOGISTICS

A Niche Model that Works

Crowley has always offered its local service in a RO/RO mode where the container and chassis stay together. An exten- sion of the 53-foot mainland trucking model, the end-to-end service has evolved over time into a routine practice. Hou- rihan explains, “By being RO/RO on barges, we’re not lim- ited by the size equipment that we use, either by its length, its height, or its width. So these 53’s are larger size not only in their length, but in their width.” Hence, it was always Crow- ley’s intention to allow U.S.-based shippers also looking for destinations in Puerto Rico to have the fexibility to duplicate the same shipping patterns prevalent on the U.S. mainland. “We dubbed it as being a ‘bridge’ to Puerto Rico,” said Hou- rihan, adding, “The ability to handle ‘53’s’, as well as the abil- ity to handle 102”-wide containers, is very limited in terms of the container vessels that can accommodate that. Most con- tainer ships are set up to handle the 96-inch wide and the 40- foot length box. When we needed to replace the assets we’ve had in service for all these years – our triple-deck barges – we actually built these vessels to be able to replicate that in being able to handle 53 and 45 foot, 102-inch wide containers.”

The 53-foot model does have its limitations. In many cases, cargo that ‘weighs out’ in the 53-footer won’t also fll the cu- bic capacity of that same box. But, for Crowley’s Puerto Rican freight model, those problems typically don’t apply, especial- ly since the practice is more an extension of the U.S. over-the- road freight model. Shippers over time developed their carton sizes, palette sizes, and the number of loads they can get into a domestic container. “Puerto Rico just became another U.S. destination,” says Hourihan, adding, “In our trade, it’s not a trans-loading concept or view – it’s more just those customers that ship domestic product to Akron, and they also ship that

THE CROWLEY WAY same domestic product to San Juan.”

Frank Larkin, Crowley’s senior vice president and general

Jr., Crowley’s senior vice president and general manager, manager, logistics and commercial services, agrees. “We view the customer supply chain into Puerto Rico as an extension

Puerto Rico services, said simply, “Our new terminal infra- structure will help us enhance Puerto Rico as a shipping and of the U.S. domestic transportation system. So obviously, the logistics hub for the Caribbean Basin and beyond, and open 53-foot (van) is a cornerstone of the U.S. land transportation system and so to offer the greatest amount of seamless fex- up many new opportunities for our customers.” Those remarks ibility in terms of the supply chain and what we have had for underscore what it takes to provide turnkey, door-to-door ser- vice, as opposed to just moving freight as a sideline into the the last 60 years, these can ‘roll on, roll off’ with our barges.

That was a natural extension of the 53.”

U.S. Commonwealth.

At the same time, there remains a robust 40-foot trade that

Serving the Puerto Rico market from the 85-acre Isla Grande goes into Puerto Rico. That includes 20, 45, 40 and 45-foot

Terminal since 1954, longer than any other Jones Act opera- tor, Crowley has more than 250 Puerto Rico employees. The reefers, too. Crowley’s new ConRo’s are designed to handle commitment to the trade goes far beyond just moving cargo. all of them. In March, Crowley Maritime Corp. and VT Halter

That said, the number one ranked ocean carrier between the Marine launched Crowley’s new Commitment Class ship El island and the U.S. mainland boasts more weekly sailings Coquí, one of the world’s frst combination container/Roll on- and more cargo carried annually than any other shipping line. Roll off (ConRo) ships powered by liquefed natural gas. The

That’s about to get even busier; as faster, more effcient ships event marked the frst in a series of milestones expected to be achieved this year as part of Crowley’s $550 million project to begin to call at the Caribbean’s most modern marine terminal.

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