Prince: Transportation “free ride” over

Prince: Transportation “free ride” over

Prince: Transportation “free ride” over

It’s a long way from Mexico to the U.S. Northeast, but the Port of Lazaro Cardenas on Mexico’s West Coast could be an attractive alternative to moving intermodal cargo to importers in the Midwest and even those as far away as New York, said Ted Prince, vice president of intermodal and international at Kansas City Southern Railway.
   Speaking to executives from shippers and trade and transportation companies attending the annual meeting of the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade (CONECT), Prince said the port being developed by Hutchison Whampoa and the rail corridor developed by his company from the port could help alleviate port and rail congestion. He said it would be an attractive alternative to West Coast gateways such as Los Angeles and Long Beach and Gulf Coast ports such as Houston.
   Prince told CONECT members that the United States faces a growing crisis in infrastructure. He said excess capacity built into the nation’s transportation system during the era of rail, truck and shipping regulation is finally being used up.
   “We have had a once in eternity benefit, we have had a free ride the past 25 years. We now have to invest and find a way to move forward,” he told CONECT members.
   He said there are already signs the logistics costs are becoming more expensive. He said they used to represent 17 percent to 18 percent of the U.S. GNP and declined from 14 percent to less than 9 percent. Over the past three years he said they have begun to climb again to where they are now back over 10 percent of GNP.