The FECÆs intermodal vision
In-state rail carrier sees international as growth market for the future
Although its track network is located entirely within the state of Florida, the Florida East Coast Railway sees its market as reaching far beyond the Florida borders.
'The FEC serves Florida and beyond,' says John Lucas, the vice president/general manager of intermodal marketing and sales. 'We have the 350 miles from Jacksonville to Miami, but only half of our business is for customers within Florida. The other half is for people outside the state.'
| The FEC believes its intermodal business will grow as more Asia cargos moves through Florida ports. |
He explained much of the intermodal rail freight moving through Florida is moving via interline agreements to and from Southern California, the Pacific Northwest, Texas, the Midwest, and up and down the East Coast.
What's more, Lucas adds, the most promising growth market for the railroad is in international freight. Trade with China and other Asian nations is rapidly increasing, and more and more of that cargo is arriving in Florida on direct ocean services. The use of offshore production continues to grow, and will get an added boost as the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) takes hold.
Meanwhile, as West Coast ports and the intermodal rail infrastructure are struggling with capacity challenges, transpacific carriers are opting to shift more cargo to new East Coast all-water services.
Lucas believes that Florida ports, and especially the Port of Miami, are in a position to become the first inbound call for the East Coast all-water services.
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| The FEC's rubber-tired gantry cranes move freight between rail cars and trucks. |
Miami has special potential, he says, because it would be possible to build an on-port rail operation there to handle international cargo moving between Florida and the rest of the country.
That would include not only the increasing volumes of Asian cargo, but north-south intermodal shipments between other East Coast ports and South America, as well as DR-CAFTA and Caribbean islands shipments.
Savannah was a major gateway for inbound Asia cargo for years because it was the 'first inbound' port of call for East Coast all-water services. Jacksonville is starting to tap into that market'most notably with the Mitsui O.S.K. Lines terminal scheduled to open in early 2008'and for years it has its CSX Transportation rail link to serve as the primary gateway between Puerto Rico and the U.S. mainland.
Lucas points out that both Savannah and Norfolk have used on-dock rail to build up business with hinterland shippers. Miami could give shippers an even better transit time to much of the Midwest and several eastern states, but adds that first all the stakeholders would have to find a way to make a solid on-port rail operation feasible.
'We do have that option available if we take it,' he told the crowd at a one of the two Miami port access forums this year where he has pitched the idea. 'There's a potential for growth, but it's not automatic growth. There's a lot of competition out there.'
Still, the challenges would be formidable and would require significant infrastructure improvements.
In the ideal world for the FEC, there would be not only on-port rail at Miami, but the capability for double stack trains between Jacksonville and Miami.
With the right infrastructure and operating plan in place, Florida could achieve the FEC vision of handling not only the new Asia cargo, but more Latin America cargo that would move by rail instead of truck.
In that scenario, Florida would be the intermodal gateway for Savannah'a vision that must seem appealing to not only the FEC but the many Florida retailers that have been paying to have Asia-origin product shipped from Savannah for so many years.
Of course, the first challenge would be to figure out how to make the Miami vision a reality.
Miami does have a rail line coming into the port, but at the present time, it is used for a single weekly shipment moving heavy equipment.
Lucas understands, and has been reminded many times, that no one has ever been able to come up with a feasible design for moving more rail traffic through the port. The FEC now has to use drayage trucking services to move containers and trailers 12 miles between the port and its intermodal transfer yard in Hialeah.
When the issue of history is raised, Lucas is at once understanding and undeterred.
'That's right,' he says. 'If there was an obvious answer it would have been done years ago. So we need to find a way to make it happen.'
There has been no truly specific proposal for on-port rail in Miami, yet the FEC and port officials still have some ideas that are quite advanced.
The general idea is to use a three-track design, with the rail track located along the southern length of the port. The Port of Miami is on man-made islands that have been joined together to create an oblong piece of land, with ship terminals along the northern and southern shores.
The exact location has not been determined. Nor has the exact location of the land that would be needed for loading and unloading freight.
One track would be dedicated for inbound rail shipment of export ocean freight. Another would be used for import ocean freight that would be heading north, with the third track serving as the 'wrap around' link for the two other tracks.
The FEC would be able to handle some 50,000 units a year'all traffic that would not have to be trucked to Hialeah.
While the on-port rail would allow the port to achieve its goal of increasing cargo volumes without adversely impacting traffic and congestion, Lucas notes that the market the FEC hopes to grow is pass-through freight.
'This solution is not about local freight,' he says, adding that with on-port rail there would still be a need to develop the long-anticipated port tunnel for truck traffic. 'This has nothing to do with the tunnel and everything to do with shipments from North Florida and beyond.'
But there would be other kinds of traffic constraints both on the port and into the surrounding metropolitan area.
At a port access workshop in August, Seaboard Marine executive vice president Bruce Brecheisen pointed out that if the FEC was going to move 50,000 units a year, that would account for around 6 percent to 8 percent of the port's total annual volumes. The port has some 250 acres dedicated to cargo traffic'Miami is also the nation's leading cruise port'and a rail loading and unloading area could require upwards of 25 acres. That would mean 10 percent of the available land for intermodal rail.
The FEC plans to restrict its on-port rail operations to the window of time between midnight and 5 a.m., Monday through Friday, in an attempt to be minimally intrusive on other port operations.
But skeptics note that vessels are being worked at all hours of the day and night, leading to potential problems even in the graveyard hours.
There could also be major problems with a significant increase in rail traffic through Miami. The existing rail line through the city is 'at grade,' or on the same level as the streets, through the city. An increase in rail freight would mean an increase in disruptions for vehicle traffic, as well as safety concerns.
There could also be opposition created by the need to blast train whistles through the city from just before midnight until dawn.
Lucas said that, indeed, for the hoped-for rail service to be economically feasible, the FEC would still have to use at-grade crossings. There is also no alternative than to use the train whistles while moving through the city.
Lucas, who moved to the FEC from the BNSF Railway in the west, working closely with West Coast ports that have been keen to develop on-dock rail, sees Florida as a place with more potential than problems.
'I don't have any baggage. I don't have any history,' he comments, explaining that his fresh eyes approach could benefit the growing market demand for intermodal rail.
'There's going to be more growth in all these trades (Asia, Latin America and Caribbean) and the East Coast is going to have even more growth potential than the West Coast,' he says. 'The only way to handle that is with more rail capacity in the ports and with better inland infrastructure.'