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September/October 2012
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The Port of Baltimore
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GOVERNOR’S
Message
L
ast month, the Maryland Department of Transportation, City
of Baltimore and CSX selected a site in Baltimore to be the
future home of a new intermodal container transfer facility.
Although it is still pending official approval by the Maryland
General Assembly, moving forward with this project would achieve
a longtime goal of the Port of Baltimore — the ability to stack
containers headed to or from the Port two-high on trains.
Since double-stacking containers on trains became a reality in
our business years ago, the Port’s rail network has operated from
a disadvantage. Baltimore’s century-old Howard Street Tunnel has
been an impediment to the Port’s container business. In simple
terms, the tunnel is not large enough to accommodate double-
stack container trains arriving or leaving the Port.
The Port of Baltimore’s container business has been impacted
by the lack of double-stack capability. Most of the container
business serves our local market from south of Philadelphia
through Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and into Northern
Virginia. While that consumer market is the third-largest in the
United States, the Port has not been able to effectively serve the
discretionary Midwest market.
This proposed facility would solve that problem. Imported
containers would arrive from the Port’s Seagirt Marine Terminal
on trucks or single-stacked trains, which would transit the tunnel.
At the transfer facility, containers would be double-stacked on
CSX trains headed for the Midwest. The process would work vice
versa for exported containers going to the Port. Another positive
is that the site today is already an active CSX rail yard, so some
infrastructure is already in place.
A near-dock double-stack container facility would give the
Port of Baltimore opportunities that it has never had. CSX has
also informed us that it will price Baltimore’s double-stack rates
favorably with our competitors.
The target year to open this facility is 2015, the same year
the Panama Canal expansion project is due to be completed.
Thanks to our partnership with Ports America Chesapeake, the
Port now has a new 50-foot-deep container berth and four super-
post-Panamax cranes. Allowing double-stacked trains to access
the Port is the last piece of the puzzle. It would not only increase
business through this Port but would also maintain and grow jobs,
ensuring our role as one of Maryland’s main economic generators.
James J. White,
Executive Director
M
aryland is committed to creating jobs and expanding
opportunity to more people. Over the past 12 months,
Maryland has created 24,000 jobs. Our private sector
led our job growth, creating more than four-fifths of
those jobs. And, Maryland remains one of only eight states to
maintain a Triple-A bond rating certified by all three credit-rating
agencies.
I’m proud to say that the Port of Baltimore is one of Maryland’s
top employers. The Port generates 40,040 direct, induced and
indirect jobs in Maryland. More than 14,600 of those jobs are
direct employment positions in trucking, railroads, labor, terminal
operations, freight forwarding and more. The Port generates about
14,400
induced jobs in this State, including positions in groceries,
retail, restaurants, hospitals and schools. The Port also supports
nearly 11,000 indirect jobs with companies that depend on the Port
to use or buy their services, such as security, maintenance and
repair, and transportation.
These three different categories of jobs translate into about $3
billion in salaries for Maryland residents, $1.7 billion in business
revenues paid to businesses providing services at the Port, and
$300 million in State and local taxes that were generated by Port
of Baltimore activities.
In addition to the direct, induced and indirect jobs, there are
also 68,000 additional Port-related jobs in the State with Maryland
companies that chose to import or export their cargo through our
Port over our competitors in other states. The ability to ship goods
through the Port of Baltimore enables these companies to save
time and money in logistics costs, avoiding economic penalties
that could result in job reductions.
We are very fortunate to have one of the leading U.S. seaports
right here in Maryland. The Port of Baltimore does much more
than welcome huge ships and handle large amounts of cargo. It
provides thousands of good-paying, family-supporting jobs, and
that’s something not to be taken for granted.
Martin O’Malley,
Governor
EXECUTIVE
View
Proud of Port’s Role as Pivotal Employer
Ability to Double-Stack Trains is Final Piece of Puzzle