On March 16, 2022, the Transportation Research Forum’s Twin Ports and Minneapolis-St. Paul chapters co-hosted a webinar entitled: “Supply Chain Impacts of a Marine Intermodal Container Corridor through Duluth/Superior.” Attended by nearly 50 people, the webinar featured a presentation by Jonathan Lamb of Lake Superior Warehousing. Attendees represented industry, shippers, government agencies and academics from both Minnesota and Wisconsin. Lamb explained that in October 2021 Duluth Cargo Connect (a working partnership of Duluth Seaway Port Authority and Lake Superior Warehousing) gained US Customs and Border Protection approval to accept steamship owned, international shipping containers transported by waterborne vessel. Duluth and Cleveland are the only two ports on the Great Lakes with such approval. Lamb outlined the potential environmental, service and cost benefits of diversifying supply chains by
bringing containerized cargo through uncongested alternate gateways versus existing large ports and large inland intermodal ramps. He also addressed drawbacks and
possible scenarios for establishing waterborne intermodal service between the Twin Ports and overseas ports, primarily in Europe. Following Lamb’s presentation, TRF’s national president Joe Schwieterman provided context on the impacts of this opportunity for the Chicago region. The Twin Ports chapter of TRF looks forward to hosting many more events that connect practitioners with students and faculty. https://trforum.org/ trf-chapters/twinports/
It was great to have several DSTA members participate in this webinar. We look forward to coordination between the DSTA and the Twin Ports chapter of the TRF on future join meetings.
Daniel Rust