Director's Message: Identifying Practical Solutions for Shipping

Our work to support and enhance Oregon’s freight shipping capability has evolved since we started in December 2015. We continue to press for legislation which will establish an Oregon Shipping Authority, a public corporation which will support freight shipping throughout the state and which will restore container shipping at the Port of Portland. This is what got us started.

But we are now working a parallel track: identifying practical projects which enhance shipping capability whether or not legislation is passed. We are now working with businesses in the Lebanon area to assist with their development of a transload facility. We are developing the necessary information and network of support to establish additional freight shipping capability at the mouth of the Columbia River. We are encouraging and supporting the enhancement of Coos Bay as an international port.

All of our work has confirmed that we are filling a political vacuum, at the statewide level, in regard to pursuing a vision of Oregon as an international/West Coast trade center in regard to shipping freight. Anyone who looks at the map of the United States including its water, road, and rail capabilities, should recognize that Oregon has great shipping potential for importing and exporting goods as well as moving goods within her borders. We have geographic gifts: the Columbia River; the seaport capabilities in the Warrenton/Astoria area and the Coos Bay area; the existing seaport/riverport capabilities of the Port of Portland; and multiple local ports which are serving their communities. We have 24 shortline railroads which can provide even better service when their lines are improved and they are provided with better connections. On the other hand, our highways are often crowded and show wear and tear, while we have impaired the capability of our dynamic trucking industry through unnecessary extra levels of regulation.

There is much to be done and we are happy to be heavily engaged in helping make things happen to enhance Oregon’s freight shipping capability.

Sincerely,

Kevin Mannix

Project Director

Did You Know?

1. 8,300 Oregon jobs could be generated as a result of additional transportation investments by 2040 (Source: valueofjobs.com/pdfs/2014costofcongestionFINAL.pdf).

2. In 2015, intermodal was the largest single source of U.S freight rail revenue

(Source: ww.aar.org/BackgroundPapers/Rail%20Intermodal.pdf).

3.In 1990, containers accounted for 44% of intermodal volume. In 2015, containers accounted for 89%

(Source: ww.aar.org/BackgroundPapers/Rail%20Intermodal.pdf).

We Offer Solutions

The long term challenge for Oregon shippers is to find the most efficient and cost effective method of shipping, through a combination of railway, truck service, and marine carrier service.

The Oregon Shipping Authority (OSA) will take ownership of Terminal 6 from the Port of Portland and will act as an entrepreneurial public corporation. The OSA, with the help of its unique board of directors and their statewide vision, will seek to establish Oregon’s trading capabilities through support and creation of efficient and cost effective facilities and infrastructure needed to import and export goods. The need for this type of corporation is long overdue for Oregon. With no statewide marine plan, no government entity solely committed to the development of Oregon as a trade state, and divergent programs for rail and other transportation issues among various agencies, the immediate need for OSA is outstanding.