… and that is exactly what I am getting at.

It shouldn’t be who runs it, but it should be who has access to it. Yes, it is sad that SC has two major Class 1 Railroads (NS/CSX) and only one goes to Charleston. This sadness is compounded by the stupidity of the General Assembly (did I repeat myself, might have … I digress) when we fail to take a holistic look at the logistical movement of goods and materials through the state of SC. If SC were smart, she would do the following:

1.) Get those bridges raised or grades lowered to handle the double-stack unit trains here in SC. There is NO REASON why bridges across the state can not be adjusted to handle the passage of a double-stack unit train below them.

2.) Work with a regional transit authority (think NC/GA) to make sure said double-stack isn’t whacking some bridge while traveling into NC or GA.

So do we sell or lease the port because the current management doesn’t understand what makes a choo-choo train go? No. The solution lies in getting people into SPA that understand rail and the importance of it. Getting those people into key leadership and decision-making positions will ensure that Charleston beats the rest of the market.

That is … if we still want the Port of Charleston to be that … a port.

- SSHM

PS – If you want to dream big, you’ll figure out a way to get a third Class 1 Railroad to South Carolina. You want to talk about rock-bottom shipping costs … oh my.

The container game rewards the player who can get it to the heartland of the U.S. the cheapest- which is double stacked unit trains- which is not Charleston.

The SPA mgmt. and the board are incapable of grasping this concept. They want to handle containers from ships and put them on trucks.

Sic Willie is not impressed with how the SPA management and the board and the legislature and the Governor have run our port terminals and neither am I.

This lease option is a very viable alternative for state owned and operated terminals.

In theory, the state will receive more money for leasing them than they would actually running themselves.

If you want port capacity to entice industry, to help with the cash flow needs of the state, and to maintain port related jobs, then leasing them out in this manner is the way to go.

Personally, I much prefer the under the table deal making with quasi-state agencies much better. Too much transparency often confuses the public- they can’t handle all the details of this complicated business.

I know the VA ports very well and my contacts there are very suspect of CenterPoint. They have not one day of experience running a port. The money is enticing I agree but this should not be your test case because VA will likely not do this. The comment about rail is 100 percent true. This is the real reason VA and Savannah are kicking Charleston’s ass.

Wow. You got him.

What the “Scoop” revealed is that six years ago a lawyer performed a routine transaction for Sic Willie.

Bra-effin-vo, dude.

-FITS

Just so we know where FITS comes from on this issue, let’s read this gem over here:

How To Get Love From $ic Willie
http://www.palmettoscoop.com/2009/03/10/how-to-get-love-from-sic-willie/

Just so everyone has a clue, the “fix” for the Ports isn’t in selling the port. It is in providing more RAIL ACCESS to the port. Let take $ic’s piece on Maersk leaving the Port of Charleston, as an example. If we recall, where was Maersk heading? Oh yes, if you said Norfolk, you are correct. Here – let’s take a look at Norfolk:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Norfolk,+VA&oe=UTF-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&ei=cJW-SYjvN8G0twfyseX2Cw&cd=1&ll=36.875965,-76.316056&spn=0.014796,0.026007&t=h&z=16

Folks – that’s a Norfolk Southern rail terminal. A terminal that handles containers … containers from large ships … such as Maersk. Now $ic, if you really want to help the Port of Charleston, you do the following:

1.) Intensify rail access in and out of the Port of Charleston

2.) Work with SCDOT to make sure all bridges in SC are high enough or the rail grade is low enough to permit “double-stacks” out of Charleston (e.g., stack TWO containers high, thus doubling the amount of cargo that can be processed on a unit train – heading in or out of Charleston).

See … that’s too logical of an approach. It’s so much easier to take the libertarian approach and $ell the port, right?

- SSHM