Can Ships Increase Road Traffic?

International Shipping and Increased Car Traffic

Due in large part to an increasingly global economy, many international shipping companies are constructing massive "super freighters" in order to increase the amount of goods they can ship in a single outing.  While this sounds like a generally positive idea, there are many drawbacks when it comes to the logistical side of the equation.

Historically, international shipping traffic from Asia has been confined largely to ports located on the West Coast of the U.S. because the massive ships could not fit through the Panama Canal, but a scheduled expansion of the canal in 2014 will allow these ships to have access to ports along the East Coast, as well. However, many ports on the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico are simply not deep enough to accommodate them.

New Dredging Projects Scheduled

Ports along the eastern side of the country are scrambling to dredge their harbors in the coming years in advance of the first wave of these enormous ships. Several ports have completed projects that would allow them to receive the ships, including Boston and Norfolk, Virginia, but many other major ports, such as Savannah, Philadelphia, and Corpus Christi, still lack the necessary facilities needed to receive the massive freighters.

An Increase In Domestic Road Traffic?

 In theory, if the ships are diverted to ports much further away from the inland destinations of their cargos, this could lead to a fairly significant increase in domestic road traffic in the U.S. Because of the huge amount of cargo these ships are able to carry, more tractor trailers will be necessary to move the goods from the ports to their intended destinations. While this not only would lead to an increase in the number of trucks out on the road, it could also add to the actual cost of shipping the goods, when one takes into account the additional fuel expenses. So, the amount a consumer will pay in the coming months for their goods, whether it be their car, boat, furniture, clothes, or anything else manufactured overseas and transported via "super freighter", could potentially be influenced by the international shipping industry.

Changing Times
With the inevitable advent of these massive ships, many questions remain about the changes they may bring to the U.S. Until dredging construction is completed on many of the major East Coast and Gulf ports, the nation as a whole could see an increase in the amount of traffic on its major highways, and the ever-changing cost of fuel could directly affect the amount consumers in the U.S. pay for internationally shipped goods.