Calhoun elected Waterways Council chairman

Calhoun elected Waterways Council chairman    The Waterways Council has elected Rick Calhoun, president of Cargill Marine and Terminal, to chairman.
   The Arlington, Va.-based council, a public policy organization advocating for an efficient national inland waterways system, is supported by more than 200 waterways carriers, shippers, port authorities, shipping associations, environmental and conservation organizations, and waterways advocacy groups.
   'We are at a critical juncture in the U.S. waterways,' Calhoun warned in a statement. 'The waterways infrastructure is aging, with more than half of our nation's 240 lock chambers operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers being beyond their 50-year economic design lives.' (For more details, read the October American Shipper, pages 40-43.)

Calhoun

   The council urges the Obama administration to support a government-industry initiative, now underway, to develop an improved project delivery system and long-term capital plan for America's inland waterways infrastructure. Jointly developed by industry and the Corps of Engineers, the plan will be presented to Congress later this year for consideration in the development of a 2010 Water Resources Development Act.
   It's estimated that more than 625 million tons of freight commodities valued at over $70 billion move on the country's inland navigation system each year. The waterways, for example, provide transport to about 20 percent of the nation's coal burned to generate electricity in utility plants and about 22 percent of domestic petroleum products. The system is the primary artery for more than half of U.S. grain and oilseed exports.
   The council also calls for the rejection of a proposed lock usage fee in lieu of the current inland waterways tax on diesel fuel. The lockage fee — first introduced by the former Bush administration — has been rejected by Congress in the past, but was included in President Obama's fiscal year 2010 proposed budget.
   'It is disappointing that the Obama administration would support a tax that will discourage the use of barge transportation, the most energy efficient, environmentally sound mode of transportation in the U.S.,' Calhoun said. 'At a time when the administration is calling upon our citizens to be more energy efficient and environmentally responsible, this proposal is ill-conceived.'
   According to a study by the Texas Transportation Institute, National Waterways Foundation and U.S. Maritime Administration, a single jumbo barge has the same capacity as 70 trucks or 16 rail cars. A typical 15-barge tow on the country's rivers carries the equivalent of 1,050 truckloads of freight.