Transportation Cost Savings News

Innovative waterway concept vessel could deliver transportation savings for shippers on the Mississippi River. Plans to transport freight via innovative waterway vessels that backers say will revolutionize the inland waterway system and provide significant transportation cost savings for shippers, especially those accessing the Midwest by utilizing the Mississippi River and its tributaries, are underway, according to Sal Litrico, CEO for American Patriot Container Transport, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Patriot Holdings LLC.Litrico presented information about Container on Vessel (COV) innovations at two St. Louis Regional Freightway Industry Forums in late August in St.

The Mississippi River Ship Channel could be the first port complex on the Gulf Coast to reach a depth of 50 feet now that the Director’s Report has been signed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Elected officials and industry leaders have long worked to increase the channel’s depth to 50 feet, which is the same depth of the expanded Panama Canal.In signing the Report, Corps of Engineers Director of Civil Works James C. Dalton stated the project is “economically justified and…

A plan unfolds and support grows for a 50-foot Ship Channel to support economical and efficient grain exports. The Big River Coalition remains at the heart of that collaborative effort to make the Mississippi River Mightier. In 2012, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Institute of Water Resources (IWR) released a report under the direction of Congress to document the status of U.S. Ports to accept post-panamax vessels. The report, entitled, “U.S. Port and Inland Waterways Modernization: Preparing for Post-Panamax Vessels” was officially released on June 20, 2012.

Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) and its members and stakeholders applauded the Senate’s passage, by a vote of 76 to16, of a 9-cent increase to the barge diesel fuel user fee. The provision was a part of tax extenders legislation that was combined with the “Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE)” Act that establishes tax-favored savings accounts for individuals with disabilities. The ABLE Act that included the provision to increase the user fee by 9 cents passed the House on December 3 by a vote of 404-17.

Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) and its members and stakeholders tonight applauded the Senate’s passage, by a vote of 76 to16, of a 9-cent increase to the barge diesel fuel user fee. The provision was a part of tax extenders legislation that was combined with the “Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE)” Act that establishes tax-favored savings accounts for individuals with disabilities. The ABLE Act that included the provision to increase the user fee by 9 cents passed the House on December 3 by a vote of 404-17. The user fee – currently 20-cents-per-gallon of fuel used while operating on the inland system – will be increased to 29-cents-per-gallon, effective April 1, 2015.

With a record U.S. harvest just coming in, the river transportation system that is at the heart of the nation's farm economy is overstrained by rising demand for shipping capacity, a low barge inventory, and a dilapidated lock system. The pressure is building on an inland waterways network that is just one flood, drought or mechanical breakdown from calamity after decades of neglect, industry sources say. Looming bumper corn and soybean crops are bringing to light issues that have built for years and which have been exacerbated by new entrants to the marketplace for river logistics, such as producers of crude oil from the nation's shale boom. Rail congestion and truck shortages are shifting more cargo to the creaking infrastructure for floating heartland goods to market.

With a record U.S. harvest just coming in, the river transportation system that is at the heart of the nation's farm economy is overstrained by rising demand for shipping capacity, a low barge inventory, and a dilapidated lock system. The pressure is building on an inland waterways network that is just one flood, drought or mechanical breakdown from calamity after decades of neglect, industry sources say. Looming bumper corn and soybean crops are bringing to light issues that have built for years and which have been exacerbated by new entrants to the marketplace for river logistics, such as producers of crude oil from the nation's shale boom. Rail congestion and truck shortages are shifting more cargo to the creaking infrastructure for floating heartland goods to market.

Collaboration is a wonderful thing. And in Washington, DC, it seems to be a concept that has become more alien than ever before, with partisan politics that have gripped the nation’s capital. But teamwork is alive and well in the inland waterways industry when it comes to supporting the concept of increasing the amount of investment raised for lock and dam infrastructure on the inland system. Since 1986, commercial inland towing operators have been paying a user fee of 20-cents-per-gallon of fuel used while operating on the inland system that is deposited into the Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF). Those monies are then matched by General Treasury dollars and spent for the purpose of new construction and major rehabilitation work on the inland waterways.

The passage of last night’s Continuing Resolution to fund the Federal government and raise the debt ceiling contained a provision to raise the 902(b) cap on the amount that can be spent on the Olmsted Project in Illinois to $2.9 billion from the current $1.56 billion. The measure does not appropriate funds, but allows work on the project to continue. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers informed the Inland Waterways Users Board in August that the Olmsted project would be shuttered in November 2013 and would displace 400 workers if Congress did not act the raise the cap.

Kurt Nagle needs no introduction to MarineNews readers. With more than 30 years of experience in seaports and international trade, he has since 1995 served as President and Chief Executive Officer for the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA). Mr. Nagle began working at AAPA, the alliance of the leading public port authorities throughout the Western Hemisphere, in 1985. And, although some may associate him more with ‘bluewater’ issues, Nagle also knows that the health of all U.S.

Testifying for the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) before the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee in a hearing titled “Foundations for a New Water Resources Development Act,”  Duluth Seaway Port Authority Executive Director and AAPA U.S. Delegation Chairman Adolph Ojard laid out three key areas that AAPA believes should be addressed in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) legislation currently being considered by Congress that would result in real benefits to the nation. First is bill language that would ensure federal Harbor Maintenance Tax revenues are fully used each year. Second is to make the U.S.

The 2013 Great Lakes shipping season began on March 2 with the sailing of the tug/barge unit Prentiss Brown/St. Mary’s Conquest. The vessel, operated by Port City Marine Services, departed its winter lay-up berth in Milwaukee and sailed for Charlevoix, Michigan, where it loaded 9,200 tons of cement for delivery to Chicago. Next to get underway was the tug/barge unit Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder. The vessel, one of 10 operated by The Interlake Steamship Company, loaded about 13,000 tons of iron ore at Cleveland Bulk Terminal in Cleveland…

U.S.-flag shipping on the Great Lakes provides efficient, safe, and environmentally sound transportation services to industries that are the backbone of the American economy finds a report released on February 12 by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration. The U.S.-flag Lakes fleet is “competitive with other modes of freight transportation in the movement of dry-bulk commodities and appears to be adequately capitalized to meet current market demands. The MARAD report notes that “studies have demonstrated that, on average, transportation cost savings from $10 to more than $20 per ton are associated with the use of lakers compared to the next most competitive transportation mode (rail or truck).”  This is crucially important…

Global freight bill processor, auditor and advisor Data2Logistics announce the launch of their Claims & Audit Review System (CARS), improving information flow for shipping clients. The system invigorates the company’s money-saving freight bill auditing ability with enhanced speed, resulting in faster audit cycles. CARS’ functionality optimizes the presentation and navigation of shipment data requiring auditor review, caches client freight bill data and distributes the information contiguously to Data2Logistics auditors. The result streamlines a potentially time-intensive portion of Data2Logistics’ audit services. The ability comes amid Data2Logistics’ further expansion of the company’s transportation cost-savings portfolio of freight bill auditing…

Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) President/CEO Michael J. Toohey issued the following statement regarding the U.S. “Tucked away in the fine print of the Fiscal Year 2013 Budget, the cost over-run at Olmsted Lock and Dam is finally made public. Alerted in August 2011 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that there was a ‘significant’ change in the cost of the Olmsted project, the users -  ho pay half of the costs of the projects and the overruns - repeatedly asked for clarification and have, until now, been rebuffed.

U.S. public ports applauded passage on of H.R. 1480 by the U.S. House of Representatives to enact Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) legislation. WRDA legislation, among other things, authorizes deepening and modification of federal navigation projects at the nation's ports. Improving navigation infrastructure generates significant economic returns at the local, regional and national levels. The Senate also passed its version of WRDA, S. 507. Major port projects in WRDA'99 include those along the Columbia River in Oregon and Washington; at the ports of Baltimore; Oakland; Savannah and Brunswick, GA; Jacksonville and Tampa. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey also has a project modification in the bill. Project details are listed below.

Taylor has spent months analyzing traffic flows on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway to measure the economic benefits. found. are about $55 million annually," said Taylor. penalty of $54.9 million per year. and barge options are quite competitive. invasive species. benefits of ocean shipping were critical. freshwater Great Lakes. Great Lakes in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Lakes to the world.