NCGA Attends Informa Economics Transportation Roundtable (3-16-06)

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) last week attended an Informa Economics roundtable discussion in Washington, D.C., on national transportation issues, in which officials portrayed a less-than-rosy picture for the nation’s transportation industry.

The meeting, attended by Illinois Corn Marketing Board Chairman Bryan Fogerson and NCGA Director of Production and Stewardship Max Starbuck, focused mostly on rail and truck transportation, though some of the discussion dealt with river transportation. Several officials said rising fuel costs, maximum capacity and a failure to improve infrastructure has crippled all modes of transportation in some regard.

“The main theme throughout the meeting was that our nation has a weak infrastructure in place, and it is declining compared with other nations,” said Starbuck. “Each speaker’s message focused on how the United States needs to improve infrastructure or else we will face decreased transportation efficiency and increased costs.”

Featured speakers included: Ken Eriksen, vice president of Informa Economics; Terry Barr, chief economist and vice president of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives; Douglas Buttrey, chairman of the Surface Transportation Board; Fletcher Hall, executive director of the Agricultural and Food Transporters Conference—American Trucking Associations; and Thomas Downs, president and CEO of the Eno Transportation Foundation. Members of the Army Corps of Engineers, grain associations and shipping industries also participated.

Rail and truck transportation dominated the discussion, which centered on the problems of each industry.

For example, Starbuck said rail cars are at maximum operating capacity. A new Class 1 rail line proposed in the northern United States would alleviate some congestion in the future, but the line has ran into lawsuits, prohibiting work to begin. Officials at the meeting also noted that investors would rather take the profits from the rail companies rather than reinvest in rail infrastructure.

Starbuck also said the trucking industry, which moves 45 percent of all agricultural products, has similar problems. The industry is short 20,000 drivers and fuel costs affect the industry daily. Just a one cent increase in the cost of diesel would hit the industry with an additional $350 million fuel tab per year.

He added river transportation is plagued by the same problems as the rail and trucking industries: lack of investment in infrastructure.

“Our nation’s inland waterways need an upgrade in infrastructure, just like the rail and trucking industries,” Starbuck said. “If the Senate passes the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) this year, we will be on our way to making our river systems able to compete in the 21st century.”

An aide from Sen. Kit Bond’s (R-Mo.) office addressed the roundtable at lunch and said the senator is hopeful WRDA will receive a floor vote this spring.

The meeting was the fourth in the Informa Economics-sponsored “Transportation and Logistics Roundtable Series.”