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North American Marine Highways & Logistics Conference Port Of Toledo Presentation Comp
- 1. North American Marine Highways & Logistics Conference Marine Highways and the Heartland: The Inland Point of View Joseph Cappel, PPM® Director of Cargo Development
- 2. The Inland Point of View
- 4. Preparing the infrastructure for future growth
- 5. Putting the right equipment in place
Editor's Notes
- Thanks for the opportunity to participate in this panel and to explain to you a little about how the Port of Toledo is preparing for short sea shipping opportunities now and in the future.
- Toledo is well positioned as an inland distribution point for North American commerce (which must be the reason I am here today). The fifteen terminals at the Port of Toledo are linked to global markets through the Great Lakes / St. Lawrence Seaway System and handle over 12 million tons of cargo and 700 vessel calls each year. The Port is also home to one of the only U.S. full service shipyards with graving docks on the Lower Lakes. Recent property acquisitions have more than doubled the size of the seaport making it the largest land mass port on the Great Lakes. Toledo Express Airport is home to BAX Global- one of three remaining air cargo hubs in the United States offering scheduled domestic and international service. BAX is interested in expanding the hub and trucking network in Toledo for the distribution of containerized products from Schenker as well as positioning trailers via intermodal trains. Schenker is number two worldwide in air freight and number three worldwide in ocean freight. Forty miles south of Toledo in North Baltimore, Ohio CSX is constructing a major intermodal hub as part of the National Gateway, a project that has recently received State and Federal support through a $30M TIGER grant award. In Toledo, the Norfolk Southern intermodal yard was awarded $13M to increase capacity and better serve the region. In addition, CN operates the Lang Yard in North Toledo. Toledo is also at the cross roads of major North/South interstate I-75 and East/West I-80/90. Toledo and is only 60 miles south of the Canada border. Canada is Ohio’s top export market and 276,500 Ohio jobs are supported by Canada-US Trade.
- Here are our Seaport’s numbers for 2008. As you can see the majority of our cargo consists of bulk materials like coal, iron ore grain and other types of dry bulk. We believe these commodities will always be the backbone commodities that we handle, however our port is very cargo diverse. We have robust London Metal Exchange handling and storage activity and have handled some of the largest project cargoes on the Great Lakes. In 2008 we handled a nuclear transformer weighing 480 tons from ship to rail. We also have handled wind towers, steel products, lumber, super sacks and other break bulk cargo. We would like to add containerized goods to our Seaport’s product mix to better serve the transportation needs of the region.
- The Port of Toledo has benefited from over $35M in State and Federal grants to acquire modern material handling equipment, reduce congestion, improve infrastructure, gain capacity and decrease emissions. We are creating jobs, cleaning brown fields, supporting manufacturing, and advancing alternative energy initiatives and technology, These investments came at a critical time for the Port and we applaud the many State and Federal departments and agencies that have assisted us in the modernization effort. It is clear that at the state and federal levels silos are breaking down and a multi modal approach is gaining support and funding for the movement of freight and passengers. The improvements will position our Seaport to become one of the most efficient product handling ports on the Great Lakes regardless if the cargo is in the form of bulk, breakbulk or in a box.
- In Toledo funding for the purchase of two new mobile harbor cranes and a material handler to replace three World War II era Liberty cranes will enable vessels, barges, trains and trucks to be loaded and unloaded much faster. Our current equipment can handle ten or less containers per hour. The new mobile harbor cranes will have the capability to at least double throughput for containers and could possibly triple throughput for bulk material handling. Working in tandem on a short sea vessel or barge, the mobile harbor cranes will make throughput competitive with that of coastal ports for container and bulk handling. These types of investments are critical throughout the Seaway System to meet the needs of shippers. In 2009 the Seaway celebrated it’s 50 th Anniversary. I believe that many of the ports on our system are in operating with older equipment and facilities that have not changed much since Queen Elizabeth and President Eisenhower opened the Seaway and Malcolm McLean introduced the concept of containerization. We have been very fortunate in Toledo to discover partnerships and resources that have helped us to grow and modernize.. For our Great Lakes system to reach its potential and capacity the Seaway and its terminals must reinvest in facilities and prepare for the future. We must also educate those in the supply chain and shed the image of being a “part time system with limited capabilities.” I believe with modern equipment and infrastructure in place at our terminals and in the seaway we will can play a much more prominent role in North America’s transportation system. It is clear we are moving in that direction with transportation funding becoming more readily available for ports, Seaway infrastructure improvements like the new lock in Sault Ste Marie and self mooring systems, and the potential for US and Canadian incentives for short sea shipping activities.
- We must be consistent and realistic about the potential of short sea shipping activities at our inland ports. In Europe 40% of all freight is moved on the water and short sea shipping is at the forefront of the EU’s transportation policy. On the Seaway, the system is utilized at only 40% of its designed capacity. If marine Highways are to be fully developed in North America shippers must be convinced that reliability and cost equal those provided by the existing supply chain. Issues like the Harbor Maintenance Tax and the lack of Jones Act vessel capacity to carry product on short sea routes within the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System need to be addressed but we are making progress. On the Great Lakes carriers like McKeil Marine are taking on routes from Quebec to Ohio, a distance of 944 nautical miles to bring aluminum and other metals to Toledo and other Great Lakes Ports. One of these barges can carry 220 truckloads of material and circumvents congested metropolitan areas. Kraft Foods recently saved more than a million miles, replaced 10,000 truck shipments and reduced 2,000 tons of CO2 emissions by shipping Canadian soft wheat via the Great Lakes to the Toledo Flour Mill. Launching new service is not easy and might involve subsidizing routes until they grow and become sustainable. Short Sea Services will also involve strong partnerships and strategic alliances between ports, terminals, vessel lines and others I believe there is general support and agreement that short sea shipping is better for the environment and will preserve our rail and road networks. It is the right thing to do. Planning is critical and getting the support of your Municipal Planning Organization, State Department of Transportation, political leadership and key stakeholders is a key step in the establishment of the Marine Highway. We need to build upon this support at all levels to overcome our obstacles and establish new routes for non-traditional cargo throughout our inland waterway systems.. Thank You.