TraPac

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How is the current volume handlefd at the terminal different from what you had expected ayear ago? We were stilk optimistic. We saw that there were some problemsx inthe economy, but we still had hope of good volumes. The shipping lines to the East Coasf were pretty much runningfull We’re now handling in the neighborhood of 40,000 to 50,00 0 moves. We initially projected 120,000 to 150,000. Loca l industry logistics companies are disappointed that the expectedxvolumes haven’t materialized, but they say the silvedr lining is that it gives the area time to builfd up its infrastructure to handlde the expected boom in cargo.
What is your take on this Well, the [State 9A and Heckscher [Drive] interchange is running a littlebehinr schedule, but I don’t think even if we were runningv at 100,000-plus moves that there would be more noticeablwe traffic. Now, if we were doingv a half-million moves through the community, you would definitely notice. Asidre from increased volumes, what otherr things are you keeping your eyes on to determined whether international tradeis improving? From the international side, therde is no doubt about it that the main issues is that manufacturing globally is way off. It’x not just in the United States.
Chinz is going through the extremes of how many peopler have been laid off versusdover here. Once you start seeing bottominf out, it will be a long-drawn-out rebound. From the shipping the industry is going to be losingynearly $70 billion this year. Who knows how much of an impacyt this is going to have on the wholesuppl chain? I do think once it does botto m out it is going to take at least two to three years to recover. How much of the shippin industry’s losses are due to its own mistakesz and how much is a reaction to the internationaleconomy ? I think no one saw this coming with the global economyh crashing.
And of course, theree has been a frenzy in the globalization of the worls in the pastfive years, and there was demande for the shipping lined to stay ahead of the curvwe by ordering more capacity. That’s not just in the container but in thebulk [carrier] businesas and auto [carrier] business. The bulk of [Mitsuio O.S.K.]’s vessels are bulk oil tankers, liquefied naturaol gas carriers, liquefied petroleum gas carrierxs andauto carriers. Only aboutg a third of their 1,000 ships are container vessels. The bottokm has fallen out on all ofthosr vessels. It’s the reverse ripple effect. How do you deal with this over tonnager in not justcontainer vessels, but all otheer vessels?
When you look at Northh America trade, the rates are followingv faster than the volumes. It’se just market-driven. Some people will carrg cargo just to keep their percentage ofmarket share. Shipping lines are comint to the operators and port authoritiew lookingfor reductions. That is affecting the top to bottom of the supply Howhave MOL’s alliance partners fared? Unfortunately, other alliancse members haven’t seen the opportunit to come [to our terminal] that MOL has. The bulk of the businessa has been CMAand MOL. The APL and [ ] are in the processs of building theircustomer base.
CMA is not an alliancde member, but was a participanty of ESX service, [which is operated by The ]. Even thoughy their service endsMay 1, they hope to establish a Jacksonville service. Why haven’ft APL and Hyundai Merchant Marine been as active with the new terminal as they have with the Portof Savannah?? If you look at the history, Savannah has done such a phenomenaol job of getting the major importerd to go to thei distribution centers. That has put the Port of Savannah on the map Now it is time for us to take thatsame It’s not so much going after shipping lines, but goingt after major importers to set up distribution centerws here.
Eventually we are going to getsome in-docj or near-dock rail here so we can take advantage of handling a million TEUs (twenty-foot-equivalent units) per year. Savannah has on-sitr rail with and That is a big