Bad transport gets nowhere

Consumers around the world hungry for grain.

American farmers responding by growing more corn, wheat and soybeans for a demanding market.
And the U.S. transportation system can’t deliver the goods.

It’s a little known problem for the average American. But it’s one that could grow to major proportions.
For some time now we’ve been talking about problems with America’s rail system. The nation clearly lacks good passenger service.

But less recognized, except by those inside the industry, is the fact that the country’s freight systems are under stress. Not only are railroads overburdened, but so are our highways and barge systems.
That’s why mounds of grain sit uselessly at transfer stations — despite being so desperately needed as food in other parts of the world, so desirous for U.S. consumers who now rely increasingly on ethanol fuel.

Grain is usually stored in silos to protect it from weather and vermin. But production has outpaced storage capacity, and grain now sits in huge piles in open weather, vulnerable to wind and rain, rats and insects.

One concern, of course, is the loss of, or damage to, the grain as it sits unprotected.
Another is simply the problem of not being able to get it to hungry markets. Producers are losing money as grain waits for shipment — and consumers are losing the product they sometimes desperately need.

Even when grain shipment is not a life-and-death issue of food, it has important economic implications. Lost or damaged grain reduces market supply, and that raises prices for everyone.
For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that storage problems in Iowa, Illinois and Indiana in 2006 added costs equivalent to about 1 percent of the $13.8 billion value of soybeans and corn. About 1 billion bushels of grain were affected.
And officials expect a bountiful harvest this year — possibly the second largest corn crop and fourth largest soybean crop in U.S. history — adding to existing pressures.

We have only to look at nearby Interstate 81 to get a taste of highway transportation difficulties. The road is overcrowded, and improvement plans are expensive.
Among the ideas touted for I-81 has been to increase the use of rail to take some cargo off the road. Nationwide, however, rail freight systems are already overstressed, and rolling stock is scarce. Grain marketers sometimes wait weeks just to get empty freight cars to haul away the produce sitting at their facilities.
River transport systems may be in even worse shape. Transportation along the mighty Mississippi is slowed down by locks and dams that are decades out of date.

Locks built during the Depression can’t efficiently handle large modern barges, causing backups as barges slowly maneuver passage.
If the United States can’t get its grain to market, other nations will fill the vacuum. America risks losing worldwide business because of its transportation problems.
Public investment is needed to bring transportation systems up to date. Roads, rails and rivers all require attention — and now.