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www.marinelink.com 75quences. We are regulated for some pret- ty speciÞ c things, and for the most part I don?t think they have been particularly harmful. They do increase your costs a little bit, but they increase everyone?s costs.Where they have been problematic is when they take one speciÞ c incident and try to build regulation to avoid that inci-dent. OPA 90 is an example of that, but I think that ended up being OK.The Sarbanes-Oxley Act for a public company is a response to Enron. Some of that is good, some of that is not very good, and a lot of it for a company like Kirby, we did it anyway. You?re trying to regulate the bad actors, and what you?re doing is imposing costs on all of indus-try, even the guys who are doing it right. Your business depends on several things that are out of your control, from Mother Nature to waterways infrastructure. From where you sit, what are the most critical waterways infrastructure issues that must be re- solved? It?s on the inland side of the system and it?s the locks and dams. Many are more than 50 years old, and they simply require investment, as you are now starting to see some failures. Having said that, we have been working with the Corps of Engineers on a plan to reinvest in the infrastructure, including a funding plan, as the industry has agreed to pay increased user fees, an agreement that prioritizes the projects and Þ nishes some of the ones that have languished. I?ll feel a lot better if we can get that through Congress.Politics, funding, diverse initiatives: is it harder to get things done today? It is harder, and I think it is go- ing to get even harder. We?ve run out of money. We had the opportunity to fund a lot of this in the Stimulus Bill early in the Obama Administration and we didn?t do that. I look at infrastructure as an investment: it facilitates commerce, it makes things more efÞ cient, it encour- ages development, it helps the country be more competitive. But it goes beyond the waterways. We need investment in highways and bridges too. We have a real problem, as we had a world-class infrastructure system 30 or 40 years ago, but today while it is not second class, but it is not world class.Technology is a popular topic in our pages, print and electronic. When you look at technology, what do you credit with making your business more safe and efÞ cient. Technology is a double edge sword. In some business, technology renders you obsolete, and in our busi-ness it really doesn?t do that. I think in our business it makes us safer, but truth- fully I think the real key to safety is how you manage it, as some 80 percent of accidents are due to human error. Some of the navigation systems and electron-ics have helped tremendously. Computer based training has certainly helped. But the most important thing you can do to make someone safe is to make safety the number one priority at the senior level of the company, and to take responsibility for it, and force the management team to Completely Integrated Electricaland Automation SolutionsWe provide ABS and USCG approved complete solutions including:www.RAACI.com S A L E S 2 ! ! # ) C O M s s 3 I N G L E 3 O U R C E 6 E N D O R F O R $ I E S E L % L E C T R I C 0 R O P U L S I O N 3 Y S T E M S s ) N T E G R A T E D " R I D G E % L E C T R O N I C S A N D # O M M U N I C A T I O N S s ! L A R M A N D - O N I T O R I N G 3 Y S T E M S s # A R G O # O N T R O L A N D - O N I T O R I N G 3 Y S T E M S s $ A M A G E # O N T R O L 3 Y S T E M S s 0 R O P U L S I O N # O N T R O L s 0 O W E R - A N A G E M E N T s , O A D # E N T E R S s 6 A R I A B L E & R E Q U E N C Y $ R I V E S s 4 H R U S T E R S A N D : $ R I V E S s - O T O R SMR #9 (74-81).indd 75MR #9 (74-81).indd 758/30/2013 10:44:47 AM8/30/2013 10:44:47 AM
