Along with many others, I’m sure; We’ve been following the several Threads about containers that have grown on this FORUM. Specifically, the interest in the refrigerated transport within the North American environment for our own (North American) produce and perishable comodities.
Because of my interest in transportation- You know, ‘You can take the man out of the truck,… etc.’
Greyhounds, suggested that I look around and get involved in some of the Intermodal Interest Forums. I did and have been reading several other websites. One I have been watching has been the APL.com address. Formerly, American President Lines ( You remember, some years back, they had the photo of the UP’s 3985 pulling a double stacker container train for a publicity shot.)
Found this article from their website to be timely, and possibly thought provoking on this venue. (linked)
http://www.apl.com/press_releases/html/press_release_20100521.html
"Global shipping line APL calls for freight rail growth in China
Key for Central, Western regions seeking bigger role in export manufacturing"
FTA*: "…Historically, most Chinese exports have been produced in the country’s coastal areas. But Glenn said manufacturers will increasingly move West as capacity, frequency and the quality of rail connections between the interior and China’s seaports improve. He added that railroads are less expensive and produce fewer emissions than trucks and provide greater flexibility than river barg*
[quote user=“samfp1943”]
Along with many others, I’m sure; We’ve been following the several Threads about containers that have grown on this FORUM. Specifically, the interest in the refrigerated transport within the North American environment for our own (North American) produce and perishable comodities.
Because of my interest in transportation- You know, ‘You can take the man out of the truck,… etc.’
Greyhounds, suggested that I look around and get involved in some of the Intermodal Interest Forums. I did and have been reading several other websites. One I have been watching has been the APL.com address. Formerly, American President Lines ( You remember, some years back, they had the photo of the UP’s 3985 pulling a double stacker container train for a publicity shot.)
Found this article from their website to be timely, and possibly thought provoking on this venue. (linked)
http://www.apl.com/press_releases/html/press_release_20100521.html
"Global shipping line APL calls for freight rail growth in China
Key for Central, Western regions seeking bigger role in export manufacturing"
FTA*: “…Historically, most Chinese exports have been produced in the country’s coastal areas. But Glenn said manufacturers will increasingly move West as capacity, frequency and the quality of rail connections between the interior and China’s seaports improve. He added that railroads are less expensive and produce fewer emissions than trucks and provide greater flexibility than river barges…”*
If this business should follow the predictions, would it not follow that we could expect to see ocena shoipping in a larger volume of refrigerated containers (I would guess that the size of
To Carnej1:
"…I’ve always been under the impression that the majority of export containers going to China carry things like discarded electronic and computer equipment to be recycled and maybe some agricultural products…"
Gotta agree with you; it seems the majority of folks seem to indicate the same thing- The Westbound export containers are loaded with mostly salvagable materials.
When I was in the Memphis area several years back, Cargill and some other agricultural processors did use some of the 20’ TEU’s to bulk load various bulk ingrediants: Cottonseed meal and Soybean meal, to name a couple of products I saw being loaded. There was also a small amount of metals, chopped copper and light tin scrap.
The reason I posted the above APL release was it would seem to be a real adjunct to send food products (ie; canned goods and other non perishable food stuffs. Depending on how the refrigerated shipments work out ( rail containerization of refrigerated produce and perishables discussed in other threads). It would seem that trans ocean shipping of those same items would benefit from the use and improvement of refrigerated technologies on American rails.
Since the Chinese seem to have an appetite for American Locomotive technologies, is it not a possibility they would be able to adapt North American Railcars to their uses as well? Their rail gauge is the same as hours and as they grow their inland populations, would not it be considered to have those folks want and need items produced here and shipped there?
Reefer trailers (or rail/overseas containers) with Nitrogen Blanketing Technology would increase the ability of produce to travel much frather than is currently available. If the central commisary produced and packaged items now available in the supermarkets utili
I think a far amount of chicken is going to China. I know chicken is a major outbound from Mobile, Al.
Rgds IGN
Containers come in several grades, with the highest being those suitable for transporting food products. As the containers age they are typically downgraded to lower rated commodities, the lowest being suitable for scrap or raw animal hides. After that the containers become scrap themselves.
This article was in the paper the other day, which covers the growing of pulse crops (like lentils) in Saskatchewan for export to China and other Asian countries. Could these use refridgerated containers?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/saskatchewans-prince-of-the-pulse-crops/article1580710/
Dale, Beaulieu and IGN:
Exactly my point. The preception seems to have been that everything that arrived on these shores was essentially via a one way trip. At least that seemed to be the paradigm.
North America was a sort of 'Black Hole ’ of consumption, virtually everything was sucked in and not much escaped. I recall reading at some point in the past that the Chinese could produce products and containers and load them for delivery and profit without having to get those containers back. ( IIRC, the Threads about Katrina Cabins and and emergency housing in Haiti).
Then along come articles about the hpes of an ocean shipping company and its desire to create a real round robin of circulation for the containers in Both directions, and the article about the Canadian gentleman who is able to ship the Canadian produced lentils to overseas locations. The same hopes for the railborne traffic to have new directions for its traffic patterns as well.
The Westerly movement has to start someplace and grow, with the new affluence of those in Asia, and the Far East, possibly we can create a demand for OUR StUFF, and then send them OUR STUFF! As well!
About a year ago there was a thread that got around to discussing this subject. If I recall correctly, Railway Man enlightened some of us by stating that at least in some lanes, the traffic flow had about reversed, and the westbound container traffic was more important - it had become the ‘front-haul’, instead of the back-haul. Unfortunately, I have to take that on faith because I’m not privy to or familiar with the data which supports that interpretation. - Paul North.
The business of shipping containerized North American goods to China and the rest of Asia has been around for quite a while, has grown at a rate that would surprise most people, and is handling a lot more than scrap and soybeans. Hay, wheat, lumber, logs, and other bulk products are routinely “box-shipped” to Asia. If there’s a downside to this trade, it’s that the WB container loads are heavier than the EB ones carrying shoes, clothing, and tech toys, so some ships have been returning to Asia with as much as 40% fewer containers onboard.
A recent report in the Journal of Commerce said West Coast ports handled 22% more containerized exports in November 2009 than in November 2008 (31% more at Long Beach and 40% more at L.A.). With the southern California ports receiving far more import containers than the Pacific Northwest, customers who ship through Seattle have been struggling to get their hands on containers for their Asia-bound products.
The amount of containerized wheat exported through Puget Sound ports has jumped from about 40,000 metric tons in 2004 to more than 80,000 metric tons in recent years. Idaho alone exports more than $700 million in goods to China annually, much of it containerized farm and timber products. Just last week, Boise launched a feasiblity study for the development of an inland intermodal terminal to help speed the region’s goods to port. A cheese plant in Twin Falls supports the plan, saying it ships some 75% of its dry whey overseas. Westbound container shipments from the Northwest (along with bulk shipments of grain and coal handed over from unit trains) take a good stab at offsetting our trade deficit. In 2008, Seattle took in 664,472 TEUs of imports, and shipped out 434,546 TEUs of exports.
It’s worth noting that America’s container imports in the first half of 2009 dropped by about 20% while its container exports dropped only 2%. While some news sources contin