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The need to serve the Global Marketplace has created distribution and logistics opportunities for communities with transportation accessibility. North American Import/Export commerce is a growing industry and logistic companies are looking for new locations from which to operate.
Transportation accessibility is becoming more important in the site selection process as manufacturers and retailers are looking for that competitive edge. This edge is often found in rural areas, where land cost is reasonable and labor is readily available.
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You are closer than you think!
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Where are you located geographically? You may be closer to the world trading system than you realize. Positioned properly, you may be able to capitalize on this growing need. Here's why:
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Containerized shipments being transported from the coastal ports to the interior United States is an increasing trend, which will greatly benefit many communities. These shipments will create jobs through the assembling of products and the distribution of goods. Many communities have added logistics and warehousing to their list of target industries.
The globalization of the world economy has had significant implications for worldwide and U.S. freight transportation systems. The role of inland ports has become more important for many reasons.
First, the ports of entry along the coasts of the US and the west coast of Canada have become congested with cargo. This has caused facility costs in the immediate area of the ports to skyrocket. Now the goal is to immediately transport containers to lower cost facilities that are outside the entry port.
Second, is the way containers are moved by sea. In past years, the majority of ships carried 3000-4000 containers (which is approximately the largest ship the Panama Canal can accommodate). The next generation of ships are called Post-Panamax ships. (A Post-Panamax ship is one that is too large to go through the Panama Canal). These ships can carry over 10,000 containers and the trend seems to be that the ships will get larger.
Third, since a tractor trailer can only carry one container, the congestion caused by the number of trucks required to off-load one Post-Panamax ship is often overwhelming. It has been estimated that if one half of the containers on a Post-Panamax ship were off-loaded onto rail and the other half onto tractor trailers, the line of tractor trailers would stretch for 20 miles. Therefore, the trend to transport by rail directly to inland ports is increasing.
Congestion in the traditional U.S. ports has opened opportunities in many northern ports to receive products which need to be distributed and assembled throughout the United States and Canada. This opens up an enormous opportunity for your inland community to become that distribution and assembly hub.
New Canadian Rail System - Connecting the World
Post-Panamax ships reach the east coast of the U.S., and the Port of Halifax Nova Scotia by way of the Suez Canal. Canadian rail has direct rail service from Halifax to Chicago, which makes the port of Halifax an important player in the world of logistics. Freight can easily go from Halifax to the U.S. mid-west states via Chicago.
Canadian Rail is the only railroad which crosses the continent east-west and north-south, serving ports on the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts while linking customers to all three NAFTA nations.
Canadian Rail Website: http://www.cn.ca/ |
Canadian Rail Map |
Welcome to the Port of Halifax
The Port of Halifax is the only seaport on the east coast deep enough to accommodate fully laden, post-Panamax vessels. With seamless intermodal connections to and from the heartland of North America, the Port of Halifax is Canada's Atlantic Gateway to the world. Click here to visit the port of halifax website.
Click on the image below to view a recent Truro:::Colchester Regional promo to the logistics industry.
Port of Prince Rupert
New West Coast Express Gateway between Asia and North America
Further, The Port of Prince Rupert BC, approximately 500 miles north of Vancouver and the closest port to Asia on the west coast, is undergoing a $160 million dollar expansion and has a second phase planned. This expansion will change the dynamics of moving goods. With the port being able to accommodate Post-Panamax ships, goods can then be transported from west coast to east coast via the Canadian Rail system.
Click here to Download the Port of Prince Rupert Report in PDF format. Click here to visit the Prince Rupert Website. |
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Many inland locations such as The Pocatello Distribution Center have positioned themselves as effective inland ports. Located far from any coast, their goal is to serve companies from all over the world.
Click on any of the images below to view their websites.
Knowing these trends, you can now leverage your community to serve the global marketplace. Properly positioning and marketing your community's distribution and logistic potential is a great way to attract Import/Export commerce and logistic companies. After all, you may be closer to the world trading system than you realize.
Written by Don Flor, EconDevMarketing, March 2007
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are becoming a necessity