b'oCTobEr 12 - 25, 2020NOrth AmericAs trANsPOrtAtiON & LOGisticsNewsPAPer 11Permit in hand, an entrepreneur starts on Alaska-Alberta RailwayThe team behind the proposed Alaskalivingupnorthwellbelowthepoverty to Alberta railway aims to start prep workline, McCoshen said. Im shocked that for construction in December, with a goalthis hasnt been done already.ofgettingthe$17billioncross-borderU.S. President Donald Trump granted railroad running by 2025. a presidential permit on Sept. 28, two days Sean McCoshen, founder and chair- aftertweetingthatheplannedtogreen-man of the company behind the project,light the cross-border project.said he has spent $100 million on studiesWe know we have tremendous sup-and engineering reports and now has pri- port from all political parties in the United vate funds backing the Alaska to AlbertaStates along with parties in Alaska, local RailwayDevelopmentCorp.,orA2Agovernments in Alberta, Northwest Terri-Rail,tostartconstruction.Therailwaytories and Yukon, McCoshen said.will connect Fort McMurray, in the heartMcCoshen, a former private banker of Albertasoilsands,withthe Alaskaand lawyer, is also chief executive offi-Railroad southeast of Fairbanks. cer of the McCoshen Group, which owns Thisprojectisextremelyviable,or holds significant interests in 11 com-McCoshen, 53, said in an interview thatpaniesrangingfrommanufacturingto also included A2A Rails finance and strat- finance,acompanyspokespersonsaid. egy head Robert Dove, who previously ledThe group has an asset base of C$3.95 theCarlyleGroupsinfrastructurefund.billion ($2.97 billion), said the spokesper-Its a win-win for all concerned. son. McCoshen owns 100% of the Alaska TherailwaywouldextendU.S.to Alberta Railway project, though hes accesstoAlbertaslandlockedenergyprepared to sell a minority stake to indig-resources and offer oil-and-gas produc- enous groups in Alaska and Canada.ers an alternative transportation corridor atatimewhenpipelineprojectslink-ingtheisolatedareatothewestcoast(LINKcontinued from page 10)havebeendelayed.The1,600-milemarket, allowing the industry to diversify (2,750-kilometer)connectionthatcutsitscustomerbaseawayfromtheU.S., acrosstheYukoncouldalsofueleco- which currently buys nearly all of Cana-nomic growth in the region, benefitingdas oil exports. A planned expansion of both Canada and the U.S. the Trans Mountain Pipeline to Vancou-Thisraillinkwillbetheanchorveriscurrentlyunderconstruction,but tenant of a major northern developmentthe project has faced years of delays and corridor,Calgary-basedA2Asaidinfierce opposition from some residents of astatementaftergettingapresidentialBritish Columbia, who see it as a threat to permit for the project, adding that it willthe environment.serve to facilitate economic development,Although the collapse in oil demand and provide service to rural householdsbecauseoftheCovid19pandemichas and other opportunities to communities inreducedcrude-by-railshipments,Cana-this isolated region. dian oil producers have turned to rail in Therailwaywouldcreatejobsandrecent years due to a shortage of export improve living standards throughout thepipelinesandaseriesofsetbacksand area, and the project wouldnt solely becourt delays in getting new ones built.focused on shipping bitumen from Alber- Shipments of Canadian crude by rail tas oil sands, according to McCoshen andto the West Coast of North America for Dove. A2A Rail plans to move generalexport are rare. In 2018, a company called cargo, consumer goods and fuel into theCanadian Advantage Petroleum shipped a geographically isolated region. cargo of heavy Western Canadian crude Youve got vast quantities of peopleout of Oregon to China.(OUTLINEScontinued from page 4) tonnage, modified for Panama Canal pur-report notes, For example, at the end ofposes. PC/UMS is based on a mathemati-March integrated terminals handled 68%calformulatocalculateavesselstotal of containers in Buenos Aires and 49% involume; one PC/UMS net ton is equivalent Brazil in the port of Callo (Peru) theyto 100 cubic feet (2.83 m3) of capacity.][integrated terminals] moved 41% of theOverall,thePanamaCanalended total and in the Caribbean35% of theits fiscal year with 13, 369 transits, a 2% total trans-shipments.reduction compared to projections. Con-P AnAmAC AnAl AndCovid-19 tainerships remained the leading segment transiting the Panama Canal, registering Asthenumbersaboveshow,the166.3 million tons PC/UMS or 35% of Panama Canals traffic in the COVID pan- the Canals FY20 tonnage, followed by: demic was relatively robust. The PanamaBulkcarriers:80.9milliontons;Tank- Southeastern Freight Lines launches Canal recently closed their books on fiscalers/chemicaltankers:69.2milliontons; 2020 (October 1, 2019-September 30, 2020)LNG: 46.4 million tons and LPG: 44.6Final Mile service system-wideand it was a tale of two halves. Accordingmilliontons.Accordingtotheauthor-to the release issued by the authority, fiscalitythepassengersegment,whichdueSoutheastern Freight Lines, the lead- itsfirstonboardtechnologylaunched 2020,paintedtwodifferentpicturesforto the health measures implemented thating provider of regional less-than-truck- more than 27 years ago by consistently the Panama Canal, with a first semester thatended the cruise season early, closed 10%load(LTL)transportationservices,hasupgrading its technology to meet market exceeded expectations, followed by anotherlower than expected. while vehicle car- announced its Final Mile service is nowdemands. Its software provides accurate that saw a pandemic begin to disrupt livesriers and LNG,saw PC/UMS tonnageavailable across all 89 service centers. andtimelyidentificationofFinalMile and economies worldwide.around 21% and 15% below projection.Southeasterns Final Mile trucks aredeliveries, helps educate the Final Mile The pandemics impact peaked betweenThePanamaCanalalsointroducedathe smallest in its fleet, offering residen- customerinwhattoexpectfromtheir May and July (2020) when transits throughnumberofreliefmeasurestomitigatetial deliveries as well as deliveries to free- delivery and allows customers to handle the Canal declined by 20%, mainly due tothepandemicseconomicuncertainty,standing retail stores, locations where atheirappointmentanddeliveryrequire-reductions in passenger ships [as the globalincluding the suspension of advance pay- dock is not available and strip malls withments at their convenience online. cruise industry virtually was halted by thementsfortransitreservationfeesandlimited access, among others. Features include:pandemic],vehiclecarriersandliquefiedother changes to the waterways reserva- As we continue to enhance the Qual-Real-time tracking with 100% visibilitynatural gas (LNG) tankers [as cancelationstion system. These measures were imple- ity Without Question service our customers Automatic delivery status updatesfor exports from the US to China and else- mented on May 4, and were extended tohave come to expect, we have strategically APIs allow shippers to integrate their where dried up with falling demand].December 31, 2020. built our final mile service over time. Wee-commerce shopping carts to the South-However, cargo movementsparticu- One significant improvement in Canalstartedwithasmallnumberoftrucksineastern systemlarly containerized freightnormalized inoperations took hold towards the end ofselect markets to test both efficiencies and Ability to use emails and phone numbers August and September which boosted thefiscal 2020. For the first time in twentymarket demand, said Rob Smith, vice pres- ofresidentialcustomerstosendlinksfor waterways volumes to close at 475.1 mil- months the Panama Canal could boast suf- ident of service center operations at South- self-appointments. This allows the customer lion tons PC/UMSsurprisingly eclipsingficient depth for vessels requiring 50 footeasternFreightLines.Withmorethanto request a contact before arrival and grant the 469 million tons PC/UMS record setdrafts. This enables the Canal to offer a350 trucks now in our fleet, our companySoutheastern permission to deliver without in fiscal 2019, although a 4% drop frommore competitive alternative route for theis better equipped to efficiently make finalbeing present.pre-COVIDprojections.[EditorsNote:shipssuchasthelargercontainerships,mile deliveries across our footprint. Driver mobile allows the driver to take a ThePanamaCanal/UniversalMeasure- LNG carriers and bulkers trading betweenSoutheasternhasbeenaleaderinpicture to confirm delivery when the cus-ment System (PC/UMS) is based on netthe East coast of the Americas with Asia.innovation across the fleet industry sincetomer is not present'