A top transportation executive of retail giant Target Corp. believes a collaborative approach to using shipping assets and implementation of a national freight policy are critical to the smooth flow of goods through the supply chain.
“Growth in infrastructure and freight transportation productivity have not kept pace with growth,” Rick Gabrielson, senior manager of import transportation for Minneapolis-based Target, told port industry leaders at the 96th annual convention of the American Association of Port Authorities, held Sept. 30-Oct. 4 at the Norfolk Marriott Waterside Hotel. “Basically, we’re living on borrowed time.”
Gabrielson was the sole representative from the retail sector to speak at the convention, which featured presentations from a diverse array of speakers, from an expert on the Chinese economy to the president of Panama [see below]. [See page 16 of The American Journal of Transportation October 15th edition for coverage of AAPA sustainability discussions.]“We need to utilize our assets a lot better,” Gabrielson said, urging more use of sailings that have available capacity and maximized utilization of alternative gateways.
He said increased PierPASS fees for peak activity at Southern California ports, as well as overall port congestion, are spurring importers to seek alternatives, while rail costs and congestion are encouraging shifts away from inland point intermodal (IPI) through-bill-of-lading services toward greater use of local transloading.
Factors that Gabrielson said Target executives look for in port selection include: Broad market coverage, adequate sailing schedules and frequency, reliable transit times, availability of weekend and after-hours access, use of efficient technologies, sufficient on- and off-port infrastructure and involvement of port officials with terminal operators and shippers.
“We really like to see the ports engage with the shippers,” he said.
“The US economy has been transformed by unprecedented growth in imports,” said Gabrielson, whose 1,502-store firm is the No. 2 importer of containerized goods into the United States, trailing only Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Gabrielson was joined by a pair of fellow panelists – Jeff Heller, Assistant Vice President for International Sales and Marketing for Norfolk Southern Corp., and Rick Holcomb, General Counsel and Senior Vice President for Law and Regulatory Affairs of the American Trucking Associations – in urging advancement of a national freight policy.
“The freight is growing faster than really anyone can accommodate on their own,” said Heller, who noted that Norfolk Southern officials anticipate that the Norfolk-based railroad will see its level of intermodal traffic entering from East Coast ports exceeding that from West Coast ports by year-end.
Heller, who said his firm alone is investing $1.2 billion this year in capital projects, including those to facilitate more double-stacking, said he sees public-private partnerships playing an increasingly critical role in the development of US transportation infrastructure.
Holcomb said the trucking segment, which moves 70% of US freight tonnage, continues to face challenges of a driver shortage (predicted to worsen from a current 20,000-driver shortage to 110,000 drivers by 2014), skyrocketing fuel costs and security requirements that “could be viewed as overregulation.”
The China factorOpening the convention on an upbeat note, Chicago economist Ted C. Fishman, author of the best-selling “China Inc.: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World” (sold in China as “China: America’s Problem”), said the $250 billion a year in imports from China into the United States are prompting the rebound of many US communities that traditionally have relied on maritime commerce.
“This i
Target Corp. executive urges better use of shipping assets
by Paul Scott Abbott Oct 14, 2007
By Paul Scott Abbott, AJOTA top transportation executive of retail giant Target Corp. believes a collaborative approach to using shipping assets and implementation of a national freight policy are critical to the smooth flow of goods through the supply chain.
“Growth in infrastructure and freight transportation productivity have not kept pace with growth,” Rick Gabrielson, senior manager of import transportation for Minneapolis-based Target, told port industry leaders at the 96th annual convention of the American Association of Port Authorities, held Sept. 30-Oct. 4 at the Norfolk Marriott Waterside Hotel. “Basically, we’re living on borrowed time.”
Gabrielson was the sole representative from the retail sector to speak at the convention, which featured presentations from a diverse array of speakers, from an expert on the Chinese economy to the president of Panama [see below]. [See page 16 of The American Journal of Transportation October 15th edition for coverage of AAPA sustainability discussions.]“We need to utilize our assets a lot better,” Gabrielson said, urging more use of sailings that have available capacity and maximized utilization of alternative gateways.
He said increased PierPASS fees for peak activity at Southern California ports, as well as overall port congestion, are spurring importers to seek alternatives, while rail costs and congestion are encouraging shifts away from inland point intermodal (IPI) through-bill-of-lading services toward greater use of local transloading.
Factors that Gabrielson said Target executives look for in port selection include: Broad market coverage, adequate sailing schedules and frequency, reliable transit times, availability of weekend and after-hours access, use of efficient technologies, sufficient on- and off-port infrastructure and involvement of port officials with terminal operators and shippers.
“We really like to see the ports engage with the shippers,” he said.
“The US economy has been transformed by unprecedented growth in imports,” said Gabrielson, whose 1,502-store firm is the No. 2 importer of containerized goods into the United States, trailing only Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Gabrielson was joined by a pair of fellow panelists – Jeff Heller, Assistant Vice President for International Sales and Marketing for Norfolk Southern Corp., and Rick Holcomb, General Counsel and Senior Vice President for Law and Regulatory Affairs of the American Trucking Associations – in urging advancement of a national freight policy.
“The freight is growing faster than really anyone can accommodate on their own,” said Heller, who noted that Norfolk Southern officials anticipate that the Norfolk-based railroad will see its level of intermodal traffic entering from East Coast ports exceeding that from West Coast ports by year-end.
Heller, who said his firm alone is investing $1.2 billion this year in capital projects, including those to facilitate more double-stacking, said he sees public-private partnerships playing an increasingly critical role in the development of US transportation infrastructure.
Holcomb said the trucking segment, which moves 70% of US freight tonnage, continues to face challenges of a driver shortage (predicted to worsen from a current 20,000-driver shortage to 110,000 drivers by 2014), skyrocketing fuel costs and security requirements that “could be viewed as overregulation.”
The China factorOpening the convention on an upbeat note, Chicago economist Ted C. Fishman, author of the best-selling “China Inc.: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World” (sold in China as “China: America’s Problem”), said the $250 billion a year in imports from China into the United States are prompting the rebound of many US communities that traditionally have relied on maritime commerce.
“This i
A top transportation executive of retail giant Target Corp. believes a collaborative approach to using shipping assets and implementation of a national freight policy are critical to the smooth flow of goods through the supply chain.
“Growth in infrastructure and freight transportation productivity have not kept pace with growth,” Rick Gabrielson, senior manager of import transportation for Minneapolis-based Target, told port industry leaders at the 96th annual convention of the American Association of Port Authorities, held Sept. 30-Oct. 4 at the Norfolk Marriott Waterside Hotel. “Basically, we’re living on borrowed time.”
Gabrielson was the sole representative from the retail sector to speak at the convention, which featured presentations from a diverse array of speakers, from an expert on the Chinese economy to the president of Panama [see below]. [See page 16 of The American Journal of Transportation October 15th edition for coverage of AAPA sustainability discussions.]“We need to utilize our assets a lot better,” Gabrielson said, urging more use of sailings that have available capacity and maximized utilization of alternative gateways.
He said increased PierPASS fees for peak activity at Southern California ports, as well as overall port congestion, are spurring importers to seek alternatives, while rail costs and congestion are encouraging shifts away from inland point intermodal (IPI) through-bill-of-lading services toward greater use of local transloading.
Factors that Gabrielson said Target executives look for in port selection include: Broad market coverage, adequate sailing schedules and frequency, reliable transit times, availability of weekend and after-hours access, use of efficient technologies, sufficient on- and off-port infrastructure and involvement of port officials with terminal operators and shippers.
“We really like to see the ports engage with the shippers,” he said.
“The US economy has been transformed by unprecedented growth in imports,” said Gabrielson, whose 1,502-store firm is the No. 2 importer of containerized goods into the United States, trailing only Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Gabrielson was joined by a pair of fellow panelists – Jeff Heller, Assistant Vice President for International Sales and Marketing for Norfolk Southern Corp., and Rick Holcomb, General Counsel and Senior Vice President for Law and Regulatory Affairs of the American Trucking Associations – in urging advancement of a national freight policy.
“The freight is growing faster than really anyone can accommodate on their own,” said Heller, who noted that Norfolk Southern officials anticipate that the Norfolk-based railroad will see its level of intermodal traffic entering from East Coast ports exceeding that from West Coast ports by year-end.
Heller, who said his firm alone is investing $1.2 billion this year in capital projects, including those to facilitate more double-stacking, said he sees public-private partnerships playing an increasingly critical role in the development of US transportation infrastructure.
Holcomb said the trucking segment, which moves 70% of US freight tonnage, continues to face challenges of a driver shortage (predicted to worsen from a current 20,000-driver shortage to 110,000 drivers by 2014), skyrocketing fuel costs and security requirements that “could be viewed as overregulation.”
The China factorOpening the convention on an upbeat note, Chicago economist Ted C. Fishman, author of the best-selling “China Inc.: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World” (sold in China as “China: America’s Problem”), said the $250 billion a year in imports from China into the United States are prompting the rebound of many US communities that traditionally have relied on maritime commerce.
“This i
Paul Scott Abbott
For more than a quarter of a century, Paul Scott Abbott has been writing and shooting images for the American Journal of Transportation, applying four decades of experience as an award-winning journalist.
A graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, with a master’s magna cum laude from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Abbott has served as president of chapters of the Propeller Club of the United States, Florida Public Relations Association and Society of Professional Journalists.
Abbott honed his skills on several daily newspapers, including The Cincinnati Enquirer, The Richmond (Va.) News Leader, Albuquerque Journal and (South Florida) Sun-Sentinel, and was editor and publisher of The County Line, a weekly newspaper he founded in suburban Richmond, Va.
A native Chicagoan, he is a member of American Mensa and an ever-optimistic fan of the Chicago Cubs.
