DC Velocity - November 2011

move more containers per vessel through the canal than ever before. It could also permanently reshape shipping patterns if importers that would normally bring Asian-origi-nating cargo in through West Coast ports for movement inland via surface transport opt instead for a less-costly all-water route for drop-off at East and Gulf Coast ports. Only 30 percent of all seagoing cargoes are discharged at points east of the Mississippi, although 70 percent of the U.S. population lives there.

Miami port officials estimate an all-water voyage from China to Miami takes 24 days, while a sailing into Los Angeles and cross-country rail service to Miami would take about 22 days and generally be more expensive.

In preparation for the canal
expansion, Miami has embarked on
a $150 million project—with half
the funds coming from state taxpay-
ers—to dredge its harbor and chan-
nel from its current 42-foot depth
to the 50-foot depth needed to
accommodate the larger “post-
Panamax” ships. Perhaps just as
important, the port is constructing
the first on-dock rail terminal to be
operational there in 20 years.

A SHIFT IN DISTRIBUTION
PATTERNS
Officials at Miami, which vies with
Port Manatee on Florida’s West
Coast for the title of the closest U.S.

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

; ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; ; ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; ; ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

; ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

;;;;;; ;;;;;;;;;;;;; ;;;;;;;;;;;;;; ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

;;;;;;;;;;; ;;;;;;;; ;;;;;;;;

;;; ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

; ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; ; ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; ; ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

port to the canal, believe the deepening of Miami’s harbor and the launch of on-dock rail service will make it the first port of call for post-Panamax vessels. They also contend the expansion project will change the way goods are distributed within Florida, across the Southeast, and even into the nation’s midsection.

“We will be able to serve markets like Atlanta and Charlotte in two days, and Memphis and Nashville in three days,” said James Hertwig, FEC’s president and CEO. FEC is also the exclusive on-dock rail provider at Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades and the Port of Palm Beach farther to the north.

Between 12 million and 13 million people reside in Central and South Florida, making it the largest East Coast population center outside of the New York metropolitan area. Because of its large retiree and tourist population, however, the region is heavily skewed toward consumption, with relatively little production.

Historically, goods bound for Central and South Florida have been produced in manufacturing centers in South Georgia or Northern Florida around Jacksonville. They would then usually be trucked—at a significant cost—down the lengthy peninsula to the southern part of the state, or be diverted west toward its center near Orlando. Generally, there are few backhaul opportunities due to the lack of manufacturing in the region.

The traffic imbalance is striking, according to various sources. Hertwig said that for every four loads headed south there is only one moving north. Charles W. Clowdis, managing director-transportation advisory services for consultancy IHS Global Insight, said the ratio is closer to five to one in favor of southbound loads.

But as more Florida-bound goods come from Asia, all that could change. Florida port interests maintain that deepening Miami’s harbor to handle post-Panamax vessels will open up the state’s Southern and Central regions to an avalanche of Asian imports that can be whisked across Florida and into surrounding states, thus remedying the directional imbalance.