The US Department of Transportation's Secretary, Ray LaHood, announced the inception of the "America's Marine Highway" program in April (Logistics Management, May 2010; www.logisticsmgmt.com). For those weary of bailouts and stimuli, the initial grants involve under $100 million (with an "m" not a "b").
Are short-sea and other maritime transport modes really viable in the US? I don't know. I do suspect that longer-distance river transport could be more employed than it is if: 1) shippers stopped to think about it, and 2) locks and other infrastructure elements were upgraded and maintained. But, it does seem reasonable that, if Secretary LaHood's concept embodied compelling merit, profit-motivated players in the private sector would have jumped on the notion quite some time ago.
It's appealing that there might be environmental benefits to the movement of goods over water instead of over the road (either rail or highway). In the wake of BP's catastrophic misadventure in the Gulf, there might be some concern about the environmental risks of a maritime shipping accident involving who knows what kind of cargo.
In the broader economic equation, I'd like to know if marine highway proponents have considered: 1) the cost of added handling and delay if a water link were to be added to supply chains; and/or 2) the added complexity of introducing more players into the complex business relationships that make up end-to-end supply chains.
The tragic and catastrophic Gulf oil spill has, regrettably, some vital lessons for the world of business relationships in supply chain management. At the risk of trespassing on Chuck Taylor's turf, let me 'splain.
BP Plc, the well's majority owner, gets most of the ink. They're on the hook for the entire cost of clean-up, plus $75 million in ither damages. Seems a paltry sum to compensate for the destruction of entire industries, ecosystems, and people's lives and livelihoods. Under pressure, pun intended, BP has quickly pointed the fickle finger of blame at Transocean Ltd, the well's driller and operator, blaming "their systems, their people."
Transocean - no fools, they - quickly downloaded responsibility to its subcontractors, specifically naming Halliburton (the #2 oilfield services company) and its cement casing work. They claimed that they had made no errors, but the issue might be moot because BP had indemnified Transocean in their contract. Halliburton counter-punched with an unequivocal statement that the cement work had been completed on time and had been tested, showing that the work had been "properly" done.
Meanwhile, the well's blowout preventer, which did not cause the spill, but failed to prevent the lethal blast, was found to be leaky and less-than-100% reliable. It's manufacturer, Cameron International Corporation has seen a 25% drop in its stock value. But, according to some, Transocean was responsible for the BOP's maintenance.
In a public move worthy of Pontius Pilate, Anadarko Petroleum, the well's 25% owner claims to have had nuthin' to do with nuthin' in that they merely approved a budget amount, relatively late in the process. Btw, the Federal government's Minerals Management Services seems to have at least a finger in this dog's breakfast, as well.
Are these the kinds of moves made by genuine partners in open, collaborative supply chains, integrated and synchronized to work together in delivering product, quality, and value to its ultimate customers? Or, are these the behaviors of companies that don't know how to create and maintain sustainable business relationships for the greater good of both themselves and their customers? It makes no diffference that the supply chain(s) involved are related to infrastructure build and maintenance, and not to the delivery of consumer goods.
I'm betting that what we are witnessing, in the midst of a disaster, is a chilling illustration of short-term, "git 'er done" transactional relationships that take the money now, and the devil take the hindmost. I'm also betting that the sinister dance will become more complex, with more intensity, and with more entities involved as more commas work their way into the total price tag.
What do you think?