CSA, Infrastructure Funding on Agenda at TransComp/Intermodal Expo in Florida
This story appears in the Nov. 1 print edition of Transport Topics.
When transport industry leaders gather Nov. 14-16 for the annual TransComp/Intermodal Expo in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., they will be probing for solutions to wide-ranging regulatory, commercial and policy issues, including the Compliance, Safety and Accountability program of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and infrastructure funding.
The joint meeting of the National Industrial Transportation League, the Intermodal Association of North America and the Transportation Intermediaries Association will tackle those issues through insights from industry leaders such as Schneider National Inc. CEO Christopher Lofgren and focused sessions such as the effects of the federal CSA program on intermodal shipping.
“No one will be shying away from asking the ‘big questions’ in Fort Lauderdale,” said Bruce Carlton, president of NITL, which presents a trade show and exhibition with IANA. “It’s a terrific program with a hot spotlight focused directly on the freight industry.”
For example, Carlton said: “Are we confronting structural problems in the economy rather than cyclical lows? Will the new Congress authorize an innovative surface transportation program that puts resources where we need them with robust financing options?”
Joining Lofgren on the opening session panel will be Matthew Rose — CEO of BNSF Railway Co. and a member of the 2007 National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Commission — as well as Michael White, president of Maersk Line, North America.
“Our annual conferences and exhibitions present the industry with not only challenges but the chance to craft solutions to the issues that will impact the freight transportation community,” Joni Casey, president of IANA told Transport Topics on Oct. 25.
She highlighted challenges such as efforts to tighten regulation of railroads and ocean carriers through federal legislation as well as broad proposals to mandate employee status for drayage truckers that are being pursued in court, in individual ports and in Washington.
Robert Voltmann, president of TIA, said the challenges extend beyond CSA and infrastructure investment. He said he believes expected changes to the hours-of-service rules will affect the already tight market for truck capacity.
“Since this is a gathering of the leading shippers, carriers, and third-party logistics companies,” Voltmann said, “this meeting represents an outstanding opportunity to address these industrywide issues with an industrywide approach.”
From the shippers’ perspective, executives of Lowe’s Companies Inc., J.C. Penney Co. and Whirlpool Corp. are slated to address a number of global supply-chain issues.
Several sessions of the meeting will address broad cargo security issues, and a discussion of the degree to which programs to enhance transport sustainability have advanced is scheduled.
The agenda also includes a trade show with more than 200 exhibitors.
During the industry trade show, smaller group sessions have been scheduled to address issues such as CSA and intermodal, with officials from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and CheckMark Vehicle Safety Services set to appear.
Workshops also are scheduled on legal issues, customer service advancements, contracting with ocean carriers, the promise of Web-based logistics education and the steps needed to cope with the new federal shipping documentation program known as 10+2 and so-named for the number of regulations that were set to address potential cargo security issues after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
Also on the agenda is a forum on international port terminal container-handling practices.
