While the 2009 outlook for the transportation industry is one of the bleakest in decades, it is important that the current economic climate does not result in diminishing the long-term priority of investing in a national transportation infrastructure for the 21st century. With the Obama administration ready to take office, and with a number of economic recovery plans under consideration, the industry must continue to be the chief advocate for moving forward with improvements to the nation’s port, rail and highway infrastructure.
News of dramatic declines in freight volumes may send a false signal to Washington and weaken the National Retail Federation’s 2008 message that the country’s supply chains are suffering from decades of underinvestment in freight transportation infrastructure. Building a strong national transportation infrastructure is an objective that will take many years, if not decades, to be realized, and must be kept at the forefront of the new administration’s agenda.
We are particularly concerned about shortfalls in West Coast port and rail infrastructure. A recent report by Drewry Supply Chain Consultants stated that West Coast ports will see increased competition when the expanded Panama Canal opens in 2014. All-water routes from Asia and other international Pacific ports to the East Coast have become more economically viable, as well as efficient. Even if the global economy returns to its formerly robust pace, Drewry said, “any new trade will probably pass the West Coast by. Volumes are unlikely to decline, but the days of strong growth on the Pacific Coast are behind us.”
As transportation companies look inward at their own respective financial challenges, they also must keep their sights focused on the prospect of an economic recovery in the not-too-distant future that lacks a transportation infrastructure capable of supporting a substantial rebound.
2009 will certainly be a year of contraction for the overall volume of goods moved by the transportation industry; that setback, however, should not undermine the long-term strategic goal of building a national transportation infrastructure that is among the best in the world.