If you have been reading about air and ocean or global logistics on LinkedIn lately, you may have come across Christoph Scheithe’s content through his “Joy of Logistics” podcast (available on YouTube and Spotify). With roughly a decade of experience in global logistics, he has supported both multinational corporations and smaller mom-and-pop businesses with first-class service.
In our initial interview, Christoph told us that he’s all about out-of-the-box solutions and enjoys working with everything from simple pallets to Flexitanks. It was obvious to me and our team that he values the same level of services and cares about our industry as I do. I’ve also been very impressed by the information his posts bring to my network and I think he’s a great resource to connect with.
For Bill’s Corner, Christoph (based in Germany) is highlighting North America's underutilization of a key supply chain mode in Europe. Read on to see his valuable insight!
See you next week!
Bill Robinson
What does North America (specifically the USA) have far more of than Europe, and is underutilizing so much that the service choice is almost non-existent for most shippers and logistics providers?
Inland waterways!
In the EU, it’s common practice to utilize waterways such as the Maas, Rhine, Danube, Elbe, Weser, Schelde, etc. and of course, this list could go on and on. In North America, the Mississippi, Ohio River, the Great Lakes channels, and more, are underutilized for their potential.
Asking a few key questions:
- How can we get rid of some traffic and still keep delivering goods?
- How can we be more fuel efficient?
- How can we offer more options to shippers?
A great option would be to put the cargo on a barge!
Luckily, the signs that North Americans are recognizing the usefulness of inland waterways are pointing in the right direction. There have been a few recent developments as North America looks to expand its use of inland waterways.
- M-11 in Alaska adds 6,500 miles to the AMH, even connecting the Aleutian Islands all the way to the Canadian border.
- M-79 is being added to the Ohio River, which affects both Pennsylvania as well as West Virginia.
Further information: https://container-news.com/us-maritime-administration-designates-two-new-marine-highway-routes/
You might also want to check out Joy of Logistics Episodes 03-07, which is the ‘American Maritime Highway’ or ‘AMH’ miniseries.On the AMH, you could ship cargo easily from New England to the US Gulf Coast without touching the ground even once. It also offers routes from the US Gulf Coast all the way up to the Great Lakes. This is especially beneficial for all bulk, liquid, and odd-sized cargo but is even applicable for containers. Reportedly, AMH allows an +8x more efficient transportation on a ton-mile KPI compared to trucks and +2x compared to rail – WITHOUT having to pave a road or build rail tracks. Talking sustainability here, shipping using the AMH is an option we should look to that the EU has been using for decades in modern logistics.
Wikipedia is the source for the following pictures, which map some of the AMH waterways discussed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Marine_Highway_Program
