According to St. Louis Mayor Francis
Slay, more than one million tons of car-
go passes the iconic St. Louis arch annu-
ally on its way to various inland and for-
eign destinations. In fact, it ranks as the
second busiest inland port in America. In
part because of that, he said at this year’s
Annual Meeting of the Inland Rivers,
Ports & Terminals Association, “We
need to protect the river(s) as national
and regional assets.” And with that, he
set the tone for the three day event which
kicked off late last month in St. Louis.
But, he added, commerce was only one
part of the equation. Slay then listed the
environment, economic, fl ood control
and recreational stakeholders who also
depend on not just the Missouri and Mis-
sissippi Rivers [which come together
here], but all inland rivers, locks, dams
and other similar infrastructure.
With many regional river city mayors
in attendance, Slay recognized the im-
portant role of the marine industry in the
local economy while also lamenting the
annual $200 billion cost to the national
economy because of freight bottlenecks
– most of which occur in other modal
areas such as rail and trucking. Beyond
this, he also pointed out the ongoing fed-
eral indifference to perhaps the most im-
portant aspect of the American economy.
According to Slay, China today invests
as much as 9% of its GNP on infrastruc-
ture improvements, as compared to just
3% on the American side of the equation.
Those sorts of numbers, of course, aren’t
confi ned to U.S.-China comparisons.
South American countries, for example,
looking proactively at an expanded Pan-
ama Canal, are quickly ramping up their
own inland resources and rivers. This
leaves me to wonder who will be getting
their raw resources and grain to market
quicker, more effi ciently and cheaper in
the coming years. Talks in St. Louis also
touched upon a regional effort by stake-
holders to revive a dormant but promised
“container on barge” service on the riv-
ers. An initial stab at this concept, some-
thing that began before the recent fi nan-
cial crisis, fell victim to declining freight
volumes during the recession. Looking
(perhaps) to the success of similar ef-
forts on the James River in Virginia,
where tens of thousands of trucks have
been removed from the I-64 corridor, the
IRPT and other local business interests
are trying to stimulate its revival. Re-
gional port mayors in attendance signed
a “Container on Barge” resolution as
testimony of their support. A fl icker
of life in the nation’s hopes for a ro-
bust marine highway/shortsea shipping
movement. Also speaking at the opening
luncheon was outgoing IRPT President
Dennis Wilmsmeyer, newly elected
IRPT President Hugh McConnell and
Otis Williams, Executive director of
the St. Louis Development Corporation.
Wilmsmeyer told us that IRPT remains
dedicated to promoting the fi ght for the
inland rivers, wherever and whenever
possible. Asked about the likelihood of
increased petroleum cargoes entering the
rivers from the ongoing energy boom to
the north, he insisted, “The only holdup
to more oil on the river is the strength of
the rail and trucking lobbies.”
WRRDA
Port authority and terminal represen-
tatives received a tutorial on the status
of WRRDA or Water Resources Reform
and Development Act of 2013, which
currently languishes in committee in our
nation’s Capitol. Industry stakeholders
hope for a resolution between the House
and Senate versions soon, so that the
important business of recapitalizing our
nation’s inland waterway infrastructure
can continue, but also be done in a more
expeditious and effi cient manner. If there
was one take-away from the collective
thoughts of Robert Shuster (Buchanan,
Ingersoll and Rooney, P.C.), James Ke-
arns (Partner with Bryan Bryan, Cave,
LLP) and Paul Rohde (Vice President
of Waterways Council, Inc.), it could be
said that describing the ongoing process
in Washington is complicated. And, that
public-private partnerships will likely be
part of the solution in the years to come.
Sea Change
Wednesday’s Keynote was given by
Acting U.S. Maritime Administrator
Paul “Chip” Jaenichen, whose public
profi le has, in the past couple of months,
increased exponentially as he criss-
crosses the country advocating for the
domestic waterfront. The charismatic
Jaenichen is a refreshing sea change for
MarAd and his energy and obvious en-
thusiasm for the job has given the mari-
time community – no matter what sector
they emanate – some small glimmer of
hope that the maritime part of the modal
equation will soon take its rightful place
in the national intermodal picture. That
said; the Marad chief made it clear that
we still have a long way to go.
Jaenichen told conference attendees
that by 2050, the U.S. will need to move
another 14 billion tons of freight; 10 bil-
lion of that domestically. Inevitably, he
said that will lead to more congestion,
but at the same time said, “It doesn’t
have to be that way.” Not if we can de-
velop and maintain our “under-utilized”
inland waterways, he added. The act-
ing administrator went on to describe a
rapidly burgeoning “designated marine
highway” in California, where another
‘container on barge’ service is currently
removing as many as 200 trucks week-
ly from California’s choked highway
system. Jaenichen talked about many
things, but for his part, pledged to “bring
maritime into the conversation and en-
sure that marine transport becomes part
of the intermodal equation.” He also in-
sisted that the Obama Administration
is already putting the maritime mode on
what he characterized as “equal footing”
with the other modes. And, while the real
federal transport spend numbers don’t
necessarily back that up, the rhetoric was
well received by this mostly C-suite in-
land river audience. He also introduced
some new concepts and programs – one
a partnership with AAPA – designed to
make it easier for stakeholders to com-
municate and get things done. These in-
cluded such acronyms as “Strong Ports,”
“Port Talk” and something he has coined
as maritime “tool kits.” It all sounds
good; assuming any of it gathers mo-
mentum.
Straight Talk, Winding Rivers
Growing organizations like IRPT
and a Maritime Administration that has
retooled itself (after nearly fi ve years
of benign neglect under Ray LaHood’s
tenure as Transportation Secretary) will
all be needed as we collectively try to
solve 50 years of the same neglect of our
inland infrastructure and waterways. A
robust group of stakeholders came to-
gether in St. Louis to sow the seeds for
what will come next.
The shortest distance between any two
points – in this case, a fully functioning
inland waterway system – is typically a
straight line. And yet, we can’t seem to
get there. The answers are, apparently,
as long and winding as the river issue(s)
they hope to help. This week was a step
in the right direction.
8 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • MAY 2014
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Straight Talk; Winding Rivers
“The only holdup to more oil on the river is the strength of the rail
and trucking lobbies.”
Dennis Wilmsmeyer, outgoing IRPT President
By Joseph Keefe
MR #5 (1-9).indd 8 5/1/2014 10:14:07 AM
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