b'18American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comMIDWEST PORTS 2025Ingram Marine Group will invest $50 million in the St. Louis region over the next three years.St. Louis continues to play logistics chess By Andrew Meadows, AJOTGreater St. Louis is playing logisticsmentoftheMerchantsBridgeover chess, not checkers like many others.theMississippiRiverindowntown And while not a grandmaster yet,St. Louis, after years of regional sup-the region - bolstered by geographicport, the importance of the bridge to gifts as well as world-class rail, bargethe nations supply chain had already androadnetworks-continuestobeen established.score federal infrastructure dollars toLamielikestousetheterm improve on its substantial foundation.optionality to describe what pushes WebelievethegreatestdriverSt. Louis ahead of other North Ameri-ofoursuccessisthecollaborationcan regions. She then ticks off the that goes into identifying the Priorityregions selling points:Projects on our list and advocating for Six Class 1 railroads that converge fundingforthem. Thisenvironmentin one of the highest volume rail hubs ofcollaborationbeginswiththeSt.in the countryLouis Regional Freightways FreightFourinterstateswithlowratesof Development Committee, which con- congestion that are in one-day drive sists of manufacturing, logistics andorlesstomajorMidwesternand allmodesoftransportationindustrySouthern cities leaders who work directly with local The most efficient inland port in the(MERGERcontinued from page 16) waythanweeverhave. Andyeah, andstateofficials,theIllinoisandnationthatalsoisthenorthernmostSamuelsenarguedthat:AsupersizedIthinkyouveseenallareasofthe MissouriDepartmentsofTranspor- ice-free, lock-free port on the Missis- UnionPacificwouldbecatastrophicsupply chain really improve if we use tation and the metropolitan planningsippi River for TWU rail workers, shippers, and thethat COVID time as the baselineorganizationEast-WestGateway Two international cargo airports (St.safety of millions of Americans who liveForexample,inthismonthofJuly Council of Governments, said MaryLouis-LambertInternationalAirportand work near freight rail lines. alone, next week well announce our Lamie,ExecutiveVicePresidentofandMidAmericaSt.LouisAirport)UnionPacificcutrailroadjobsbusiest month in the 117-year history MultimodalEnterprisesforBi-Statewith Foreign Trade Zones and Enter- even as other freight railroads rampedof this Port of LA, and we didnt have DevelopmentandheadoftheSt.prise Zones up hiring after the pandemic. They areone ship backed up.Louis Regional Freightway, explain- not to be trusted by railroad workersWemovedmorecargointhe inghowSt.Lousseparatesitselfina C aChe ofd eVelopablel and nationwideandtheTWUwillfightsecond-half of year 2024 than we did the competition for federal infrastruc- Thismodaloptionalitygivesany attempt to ram through a mergerduring the peak ofCOVID, and ture funding.shipperstheflexibilitytochooseathat Wall Street might like but is badnot one ship was backed up. Times Thecommitteemembersworkmode of transportation based on reli- forrailroadworkersandthesafetywere lower, velocity was improved. together to set infrastructure prioritiesability,cost-effectiveness,andeffi- ofeveryone,saidTWURailDivi- ThePorthastheinfrastructureto by having private sector leaders helpciency.HavingaccesstomultiplesionDirectorJohnFeltz.Thisisincreaserailshipmentsinandout public sector leaders understand howmodes of transportation helps reducegoing to be a long, drawn-out processof the Port: We want to bring more infrastructureandefficiencyimpactriskandmaintaincontinuityduringwhere many groups will have a say.intermodalcargothroughtheGate-on-time delivery and costs. This inno- supply chain disruptions, Lamie said. We expect the Surface Transportationway here in Southern California and vative and collaborative approach toTheSt.LouisRegionalFreight- Board, Federal Railroad Administra- specifically the Port of Los Angeles. compile and build consensus for theway recently announced its 2026 Proj- tion, key lawmakers, other railroads,We have had numerous rail projects PriorityProjectsListhasgarneredectPriorityListwhichincludes29and shippers to stand with organizedthathavebeencompletedandsev-national recognition, she said.projects totaling nearly $8.9 billion. Aslabor and oppose this deal.eralothersthatareunderwayright Theprocesshelpstoensureof May 2024, more than $560 millionTheTWUrepresentsmorethannow in order to increase rail capac-public officials responsible for infra- inprojectsontheannualrollinglist160,000workersacrosstheairline,ity. The Alameda Corridor is under structureinvestmentunderstandthehad been completed and more $2.6 bil- railroad, transit, universities, utilitiessubscribed. Right now, its utilization needs of the manufacturing and logis- lion in funding had been allocated forand service sectors.rate is about 30%.ticsindustries.Thebargeindustryadditional projects, with many of thoseThe Alameda Corridor is a 20-mile ranked the Merchants Bridge projectunder construction or soon to be.p ort ofla r aili nfrastruCture freight rail expressway owned by the as one of its highest priority projectsThelistunderscoresthetopSeroka was asked about whetherAlamedaCorridorTransportation indicating barge rates are contingentinfrastructureneedsofmanufactur- thePortsinfrastructureisinplaceAuthoritythatconnectstheportsof to competitive rail rates. The commit- ing and logistics industries in Easterntohandleincreasedintermodalvol- LosAngelesandLongBeachwith tee speaks with one voice to ensureMissouriandSouthwesternIllinois.umes. He answered that the Port hasthetranscontinentalmainlinesofthe all necessary parties are familiar withTheMacArthurBridge,theIllinoisupgraded its operations and logisticsBNSF Railway and the Union Pacific theregionsinfrastructurepriorities,Route3Connector,andTRRAssincetheCOVIDerawhenshipsRailroadthatterminateneardown-understandwhytheyareprioritiesMultimodalFreight Yardexpansionwerebackedupatanchor:IsaytownLosAngeles.Runninglargely and collectively advocate for fundingare key projects.weve all learned a lot from that timein a trench below Alameda Street, the for them. Lamie said. As one exam- Inaddition,theInterstate270during COVID on what some of thecorridorwasconsideredoneofthe ple,whenTerminalRailroadAsso- (I-270)ChainofRocksBridgecur- deficiencies were, how we can makeregions largest transportation projects ciation of St. Louis (TRRA) appliedrentlyunderconstructionremainsthings better, how can we relate to onewhen it was constructed in the 1990s forfederalfundingforthereplace- (CHESScontinued on page 19) another in a much more constructiveand early 2000s.'