Transportation facilities and services available to Minnesota exporters to serve Pacific area markets

Abstract

The transportation facilities and services available to Minnesota exporters to export to Pacific area countries were identified. This included the modes of transportation, individual carriers, third parties, and ocean ports and airports available to Minnesota shippers. The service provided was evaluated as were its accessibility to Minnesota exporters and the ability of the system to handle a substantial increase in exports from Minnesota. Included were international water and air transportation and domestic railroad, motor truck, and intermodal railroad-truck transportation. The conclusions drawn were that (1) the transportation service from Minnesota to the Pacific area is sufficient in quantity and quality in all modes, with some problems with lack of enough air freight service at Minneapolis-St. Paul; (2) the transportation service is satisfactory in terms of cost for water and motor truck service, with less satisfaction with the cost of the other modes; (3) the transportation service is generally accessible to Minnesota exporters; and (4) the transportation system for the most part should be able to handle a major increase in the quantity of exports to the Pacific region from Minnesota, the possible exception is air freight transportation in terms of both carrier capacity and airport capacity.