Peter Keller, member of the Board of Directors of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver and President of NYK Line (NA) Inc., told a Denver audience of representatives from transportation, government, and academia that, despite the current global economic slump, the future of international, intermodal transportation will be strong and vibrant in this era of globalization. Keller delivered the keynote address at the Denver Transportation Club's 28th annual transportation forum, which is the premier transportation conference in the Rocky Mountain Region.
Speaking to an audience that included students in transportation, logistics, and supply-chain management programs, Keller said: "We live in a world that is truly flat, as Thomas Friedman points out so well in his recent book. All we need do is look at how quickly this economic downturn came upon the entire world. The growth of international transportation during the 1990s and earlier has brought the continents closer together and made us increasingly interdependent. Certainly we are all concerned about the current economic situation and the state of our international supply-chain community, which has seen consumer confidence whither and demand decline; but we cannot turn back the clock. Our world will continue to shrink, to flatten, and we will continue to be more interdependent. While we are in a difficult economy, we should not dismiss the distinctions between the short-, medium-, and long-term future of transportation in a global economy. International trade and transportation will flourish in the long term."
'From adversity and change come opportunity and we must be ready for the turnaround,' he said. "Each business cycle increases the pace of change, so we must be prepared to accelerate our pace of improvement and accelerate our activity levels. An economic depression is the time to review our transportation processes, to remove old, marginally productive assets, and to consider how we can add additional value to the international supply chain by reducing costs and increasing efficiencies. We need to re-evaluate our service models and patterns for the future. Yes, the near-term economic and transportation bubbles have burst, but after the downturn, we all know there will be an upturn. We need to plan for that eventuality now. We need to continue to seek global partnerships and opportunities. In this small world, which is getting smaller everyday, many people are still concerned or scared about the global marketplace. Don't be, it is the future."
Keller pointed out that the US cannot afford to become isolationists in a time of economic downturn; but rather must work cooperatively to meet the challenges of change and develop strong global leadership to meet future needs. He reminded his audience that international transportation is a "team sport" with many players and it must be treated as such if it is going to work.'
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- Supply-chain trading partners must have mutual respect for one another and their roles in globalization.
- All must recognize that we should cooperate across borders and realize profit consistent with our investment, knowledge, and commitments.
- We cannot have one transportation sector trying to "hoard" all the profits in the supply chain.
- We must truly work together to add value to the entire transportation process by providing real business solutions that customers want and need.
Keller also pointed out that the US intermodal system has become the transportation model for the world and that the container industry he represents is a bit of an economic window into the global economy as it acts as the retail sector of global intermodal transportation. "Containers move the products that we all touch throughout the international supply chain -- the goods that sit on shelves at Wal-Mart and Target; the auto parts that are needed to infuse our auto industry; the economic fuels we n
