By Richard Barone, Transportation Planner, RPA
You see it, you want it. A new, stuffed Teddy bear for your child, just like Corduroy.
But whether you pluck that fuzzy brown bear off a shelf or a computer screen, what you have bought makes its way to your house through a complex "just-in-time" ballet of interdependent transportation modes and services that you, if you're an average consumer, probably have not thought about much.
Teddy, if he is like most toys these days, might start his life in a plant located in the Yangtze River manufacturing corridor in China, where he would be boxed, palleted, and loaded into a container bound for the Port of Shanghai. The container is then loaded onto one of the massive vessels destined for the New York Harbor, some more than 1,000 feet long and carrying more than 7,000 forty-foot containers. On this vessel, Teddy is just one grain of salt in a shaker.
Economies of scale: Because each of these vessels can carry tens of thousands of Teddies, and because the costs of operating the vessels - fuel and crew - are low, moving freight by water is comparatively cheap. A handful of workers can take a giant vessel halfway around the world. (Unless Teddy was gold-plated or made of perishable materials, it is unlikely that Teddy would have flown to New York, though airports do account for 25 percent (by value) of the freight moved in the United States.)
From the Port of Shanghai, Teddy's ship would likely route through the Suez Canal, across the Atlantic Ocean, pass under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, travel up the Kill van Kull and into the Port of Newark and Elizabeth to berth. His container would be offloaded, mostly by machines, and placed on a truck for local delivery (where most of the goods handled by the Port of New York and New Jersey are destined). Or his entire container could be stacked on a train for delivery to an inland market like Chicago.
The next stop on Teddy's global trip is the distribution center where the container will be unloaded and Teddy sorted for delivery to a specific store. This process, called cross docking, involves loading Teddy onto a smaller box trucks for "last mile" delivery to a store shelf, or directly to your home.
The efficiencies of this freight system helps to keep Teddy low-cost. So-called "logistics costs," which include all activities relating to the procurement, transport and storage of goods, have gone from 16 percent of U.S. GDP in 1970 to 10 percent today - savings that (theoretically) directly translate into lower prices for consumers.
Teddy's voyage illustrates the important role that our ports play in our region's economy. New York's sea ports handle the most cargo on the East Coast, and rank only second nationally after the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. (Our airports handle more freight than any other region.) They create more than 232,000 jobs and generate $5.8 billion in local, state and federal tax revenues. Nothing to sneeze at, particularly in this economy.
So, whatever gifts you have chosen this holiday season, we here at RPA trust they will arrive safe and sound, and that your holidays are good ones.
@RegionalPlan