As businesses import more product into the United States, they will have to reevaluate their transportation options. The cost of fuel will certainly add to this. |
Having multimodal access is important because shippers want to immediately move product off ships to rail via hopper or tank car. There is also growing consideration -- given fuel costs, capacity issues, and emissions concerns -- for offloading product to barge for all-water movement elsewhere. |
Shippers can reduce transportation costs, especially for bulk commodities, by moving product through a port -- particularly one that has multimodal opportunities such as barge, rail, and truck. |