Page 9: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2019)

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OPENING SHOT draft container ships. ing on the Hill. But, we have to get it pendent, non-partisan infrastructure accepting the commission’s recommen-

In addition, the James River Expan- right, and we need to get our priorities commissions with experts, not a job for dations should be treated as mandatory sion Project on the M-64 was awarded in order. To that end, Fitch’s Cherian politicians. Elected of? cials need to ac- not optional.” Let’s hope that vision be- $1,822,093 by Marad. Sponsored by George insists, “This is a job for inde- cept that fact and that for this to work, comes our reality.

James River Barge Lines, the grant funds will be used for the construction of a third barge to expand the existing service in order to accommodate an esti- mated 27% annual growth on the M-64 corridor. Since its inception in 2008, the

You pull 64-Express barge service has seen sub- stantial year-over-year cargo growth, ahead transporting a total of 27,626 contain- ers in ? scal year 2018, an increase of 23% from ? scal year 2017. In case you missed the point, that’s 27,626 trucks that you didn’t have sit behind in traf- ? c in 2018. The addition of a third barge would capitalize on previous Marine

Highway Program investments by in- creasing the number of weekly trips to

DRASTICALLY REDUCED seven days and carrying an average of

FUEL COSTS AND EMISSIONS 170 containers per trip.

(Hopefully) More Progress to Come

The reality is that regardless of what happens with the economy – long or

WÄRTSILÄ HY short term – the shipment of freight in

OR LNG TUG

North America will explode over the next three decades. It’s not that there isn’t enough cargo to go around for all the freight modes; instead, there’s too much. Our Canadian friends have it right.

They all know that they need each other.

The truckers (apparently) aren’t worried about losing market share to rail, who isn’t worried about losing market share to the waterfront, etc. What they are worried about is just how much freight they can win from U.S. West Coast ports in a post-Panama Canal expansion era, with their on-dock rail connections to a very fast class one railway heading east.

That’s how you run a supply chain.

In North America, the trucking crisis is just around the corner. Stakehold- ers predict a nationwide shortage of as many as 50,000 drivers within ten years.

The reasons for that are many, but one way to attack the problem is to let these professionals go home at night. In an intermodal equation that only employs

WÄRTSILÄ CONNECTS THE DOTS drayage as the link that makes that ? nal

WÄRTSILÄ CONNECTS THE DOTS

Wärtsilä has been leading the way to ever more ef?cient shipping

Our hybrid and LNG tugs will drastically reduce both operational mile delivery, trucking out? ts can handle since 1834. We have the most complete offering of marine solutions costs and emissions. Minimal emissions ensure environmental multiple deliveries daily with one local in the world. From propulsion systems to environmental solutions, we compliance, and the performance is guaranteed. driver, who, at the end of his shift, can provide all the products, solutions and services you need. Let Wärtsilä

Read more about our tugs at www.wartsila.com/hytugs go home and see his (or her) son’s little connect the dots that make your life both easier and more pro?table.

league game. Before that can happen, however, the ports and inland waterways

Visit us at NOR-SHIPPING, 04 - 08 June 2019, Oslo, Norway, Hall D – D03-40 have to be made ready to make that ? nal handoff a seamless one.

Last month’s Marad shortsea shipping grants are a very good start. So, too, is talk of $2 trillion in infrastructure fund- www.marinelink.com 9

MR #5 (1-9).indd 9 5/3/2019 9:50:46 AM