Georgia has grown from a state of dirt roads and steam locomotives to a leader in the logistics business, strategically positioned to reach 80 percent of the U.S. population through its deepwater ports, interstate highways, Class A railroads and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International airport.
With that declaration, Gov. Nathan Deal opened Wednesday’s session of the 2013 Georgia Logistics Summit before a record 2,100 participants, who crowded the ballroom of the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.
“Our transportation system has been ranked in the top three in the country,” Deal said.
“We’ve found that for every dollar that we invest in freight improvement over the next 40 years, we can expect to receive approximately $3.50 in benefits. That’s not a bad return on investment.
“At that rate, we expect that it will generate more than $65 billion and thousands of new jobs for our state,” he said.
Deal said he is especially proud of the Port of Savannah’s growth.
“We’ve worked hard to make sure funding is available on the state level to deepen the harbor for the bigger ships that will come with the expansion of the Panama Canal.”
Growing pains
Georgia’s transportation system will continue to expand, but not without some serious growing pains — especially in the areas of funding and regulations. Those were the sentiments that came out of a “Rapid-Fire Transportation Update,” the morning’s opening session.
Moderated by Page Siplon, executive director of the Georgia Center of Innovation for Logistics and host of the summit, the panel featured Todd Long, deputy commissioner for the Georgia Department of Transportation; Ed Crowell, executive director of the Georgia Motor Trucking Association; Sharon Dunn, director of the Georgia Railroad Association; Bob Pertierra of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce; and Curtis Foltz, Georgia Ports Authority executive director.
Georgia is ahead of the curve: It had a comprehensive freight and logistics plan in place long before the federal government called on states to put such a plan in place, Long said. However, having a solid plan and finding the funding for it don’t always go hand in hand.
“There are a lot of things we need to be doing to make sure we stay a top state, logistically,” he said. “We want to expand intermodal connections in Atlanta and Savannah, and we want to focus on the Last Mile projects around the Port of Savannah — the key roads, overpasses and other connectors that will allow traffic to flow smoothly.”
Long said his department has its federal funding for this year into next, but after that, it’s anyone’s guess.
“I see us struggling on the federal side,” he said, noting that only three of 12 state transportation tax districts passed a penny tax for transportation in 2012.
The other nine proposed tax districts, including one with Savannah in its boundaries, rejected the tax.
“Those three districts are reaping the benefits now, starting much-needed projects. But we still have lots of work that’s needed in the other nine.”
More regulations
The trucking association’s Crowell called the Port of Savannah “of major importance to us as a state.”
“As the port continues to increase capacity, that increase must be matched statewide,” he said. “It won’t matter how much cargo comes into the port if we can’t get it out in a timely manner.”
Crowell said Georgia has one of the top road systems in the country, a feature that helps truckers — who move 67.5 percent of all freight in the state — increase their efficiency.
But the trucking industry still faces major issues, including constantly changing regulations.
Of primary concern are the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s proposed changes in hours of service, which impact the number of hours a driver can be on the road and the length of breaks in between.
According to the Journal of Commerce, if the regulation becomes law, “many carriers will have to hire more drivers to do the same amount of work, raising transportation costs, putting pressure on driver pay and challenging shipper networks dependent on early Monday deliveries.”
While railroads are privately owned, the state is the third largest owner of rail lines in Georgia, the Railroad Association’s Dunn said.
“Our challenges include funding for maintenance and growth and dealing with unfunded regulations,” she told the group.
Poised to expand
GPA’s Foltz said the country’s ports face three major logistics roadblocks: aging infrastructure, a lack of capacity growth and no national strategy.
“The president talks to the nation about doubling our exports, which bodes well for deepening the harbor,” he said.
“But we’re struggling — as are all ports around the country — with simply maintaining our channels at their current depths.”
The federal government taxes imports for the purpose of maintenance, Foltz said, but of the $1.5 billion collected each year, only about $600,000 actually goes to maintenance.
There is tremendous potential for growth in the Southeast, Foltz said.
“Not only do we need to grow our infrastructure and deepen our harbor, South Carolina and Florida need to do the same,” he said, adding that Georgia Ports expects to double its cargo volume by 2020 — then double it again in 2030.
“The way it stands now, we will be close to capacity in 20 years,” he said. “So will Charleston.
“We need to put our politics aside and start working on the Jasper Ocean Terminal now, before it’s too late.”
The 1,518-acre Jasper site was acquired jointly by the Georgia and South Carolina ports authorities from the Georgia Department of Transportation in July 2008, and a six-member board of directors was appointed, three from each state.
The board then hired the California-based design engineering firm Moffatt & Nichol to develop feasibility studies, quantify capital needs and perform overall management for the Jasper Ocean Terminal.
But the plans have been in limbo for the last few years as South Carolina has devoted much of its energies to stopping the deepening of the Savannah River channel.
ABOUT THE SUMMIT
The fifth annual Georgia Logistics Summit is a one-of-a-kind event that grows in scope and attendance each year. This year’s gathering, which was Tuesday and Wednesday, drew 2,100 attendees from more than half the U.S. states and at least a dozen nations — most of them from across the private sector. The two-day event at the Georgia World Congress Center featured keynotes, breakout sessions and networking opportunities created with input from the logistics industry.