Photo credit: Louis Vest

In a modern world where fuels prices are as volatile as the stock market and where the phrase “carbon footprint” is as ubiquitous as highway gridlock, moving America’s freight is not just an economic problem but a political and environmental problem as well.

The future looks worrisome to local and regional shippers. The International Energy Agency predicts average $100-per-barrel costs between 2008 and 2015, which would create $4.00-per-gallon minimums for highway diesel. Experts are also predicting another dramatic fuel spike stemming from the ongoing recession. But the solution for cheap, green transportation is surprisingly simple. Intermodal short-sea shipping (I-SSS) — or the Marine Highway as it’s also known — has been used in Europe and Alaska with success for many years and it’s gaining momentum on the East and Gulf coasts. It’s now time to establish this transportation infrastructure mechanism on the West Coast.

We’ll use the Marine Highway to move freight normally found on highways. Because one barge can carry the equivalent of 450 trucks, and because coastal barging is as much as three-and-a-half-times more fuel efficient than long-haul trucking, I-SSS can deliver as much as 20% lower costs to shippers.

Our I-SSS service will call on five strategically chosen ports: Long Beach, Oakland, and Humboldt Bay, Calif., Coos Bay, Ore., and Longview, Wash. We’ll have the capacity for 8,100 shipments per month across ten major West Coast freight lanes. This will be the first ever contiguous coastal intermodal distribution network from San Diego to Seattle.  That means shippers in California’s North Coast and in Oregon will have greater major metropolitan market access. Our service will also help break the capacity grid-lock and back-haul debacle that stifles rural economic opportunity.

HML will call Humboldt County home. But we’ll also be partnering with some major players to make our program run smoothly. As our company grows, you’ll see us working closely with the ocean-tow, container-leasing, container-depot, port-drayage and trucking/logistics industries to create a marketable I-SSS service.

We’re not exaggerating when we say that the Marine Highway will provide impressive economic stimulus and and environmental and socioeconomic benefits. It’s an inevitable reality on the West Coast. Our project is a unique opportunity for the West Coast and our community — enabling Humboldt County & Humboldt Bay to secure a solid position in the West Coast transport market.