Border Lines

A roundup of North American news:

Will CG Railway succeed where others have failed? The short-line railroad, an affiliate of International Shipholding Corp. (parent of Waterman Steamship Co. and Forest Lines Inc.), last month launched an all-water intermodal service between Mobile, Ala., and Coatzacoalcos on the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Two roll-on/roll-off vessels with a capacity of 60 railcars each will sail every four days, with a port-to-port transit time of three days. CGR offers interchanges with the Norfolk Southern, Canadian National, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, and CSX railroads in the United States, and on-dock connections in Coatzacoalcos with Ferrosur. The new service targets U.S. exporters and importers in the Midwest and east of the Mississippi River. In Mexico, CGR is courting importers and exporters in Mexico City as well as in the Eastern and Southern states. Several similar services have started up over the last seven or eight years, generating much interest among shippers, but none has proven to be profitable so far.

Consolidated Freightways is starting the new year with a major expansion of its cross-border business. The CF Mexico division, which operates in Mexico through a joint venture called CF Alfri-Loder, announced last month that it would invest $17 million in new terminals and upgrades to existing facilities on both sides of the border. In December, the LTL carrier opened a new terminal in McAllen, Texas. Terminals will open this month and next in Phoenix, Ariz., and Laredo, Texas. The Laredo facility will replace a smaller terminal; the new location boasts a 51,000-square-foot warehouse and 93 dock doors. In Mexico, construction is set to begin on a "super terminal" to be located on a 16-acre site north of Mexico City. Details of the plans have not yet been released, but CF Mexico division manager Brian Hickert says it will be "a showcase for the entire LTL industry."

The Port of Montreal joined the "one million container club" in mid-December. For the first time, the port handled one million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in a single year, a status enjoyed by about 50 ports worldwide. Dominic Taddeo, president and CEO of the Montreal Port Authority, attributes the surge in container traffic to his port's competitive services and pricing, a strong North American economy, and investments in infrastructure by ocean carriers and terminal operators.

NAFTA Notes: ShipLogix, an online provider of transportation-management software, has entered the Canadian market. According to the company, ShipLogix's products are especially well suited to helping Canadian shippers manage customs documentation and exporting requirements. Joining ShipLogix as vice president of Canadian business development is Allan Smith, formerly vice president of sales and marketing for Unicity Integrated Logistics. Aeromexico has launched thrice-weekly MD-82 service from Ontario (Calif.) International Airport to Guadalajara and Mexico City. Interlake Material Handling Inc. has broken ground for a new 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Matamoros, Mexico. The plant will build storage racks for sale in the Southwestern United States, Mexico, and South America.