Opinion: Building Cooperative Competition
B>By Joni Casey
I>President
ntermodal Association of North America
Trucks and trains will always compete for certain kinds of business, as will planes and trucks in some markets and ships and planes in others. That is the "natural" order. But given the issues facing freight transportation today, the challenge is getting beyond the parochial views that often accompany normal competition to build consensus to resolve common problems that impede efficiency and progress. The business model addressing this concept is cooperative competition — or "co-opetition." It reflects the alignment of interests among modes to achieve a universal goal. And the ultimate goal for all transportation providers is not only to maximize profits but to provide customers better service at reasonable costs.Numerous examples exist today where differing modes have curbed their competitive self-interests to work for larger goals. From a policy perspective, I would offer the Freight Stakeholders Coalition as an example. In order to be successful, members had to put aside parochial issues, such as vehicle size and weight and "raiding" of the Highway Trust Fund for non-highway freight projects. The coalition consists of the major freight transportation trade associations and national organizations representing shippers. Collectively, the Freight Stakeholders Coalition represents tens of thousands of transportation providers and customers. Its basic mission is to assure that freight interests are addressed in transportation reauthorization legislation and that adequate infrastructure is available to accommodate increasing transportation volume demands.
The coalition was formed after enactment of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act in 1991 and initial efforts were focused on putting freight needs on the radar screen at state and local planning levels. The coalition built upon earlier successes during the next reauthorization cycle that led to the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century in 1998. As a result of stakeholder efforts, language was included that required consideration of freight projects and provided federal funding mechanisms for such projects. In addition, intermodal connectors were designated as part of the National Highway System, making them eligible for federal dollars. Congress directed the Department of Transportation to inventory these connectors and assess their condition.
Current Freight Stakeholder Coalition activities involve the development of a consensus agenda for the 2003 reauthorization of TEA-21. This ambitious nine-point plan includes: protecting the integrity of the Highway Trust Fund, dedicating funds for the NHS intermodal connectors, developing ways to increase funds without new user fees and streamlining environmental permitting for freight projects. Arriving at this agenda required the stakeholders to place the advancement of overall national freight interests ahead of individual ones — co-opetition at its best.
A prime example of operating co-opetition is the intermodal industry effort to develop private sector solutions to the contentious issue of equipment roadability. The passage of roadability laws in four states, and the potential of similar laws in others, has created a scenario where a hodgepodge of rules could apply to the same shipment depending on where it is being transported. Take, for example, an import shipment that arrives in Southern California, is double-stacked to New Orleans and its ultimate destination is Virginia. Differing roadability laws in these states would apply to that single cargo movement, and in practice, none of these laws is actually enforceable. Under this multijurisdiction situation, nothing will have been gained toward improving equipment roadability. Don’t assume that federal regulation is the answer, either. Remember the trials and tribulations of the 1997 "overweight container act" that consumed years of efforts and resulted in no tangible resolution of the problem?
Over the past 16 months, a small group comprising motor, rail, ocean and equipment leasing company executives has labored to develop a consensus approach that addresses shared responsibility for the ongoing condition and performance of intermodal trailing equipment. This working group believes that by defining specific responsibilities among equipment providers and motor carriers, the intermodal industry will benefit from greater systemic safety and more efficient operations. Key to the proposal’s effectiveness is that motor carriers would not be held accountable for latent defects in trailing equipment.
The proposal also will address the issue of out-of-service violations issued to truckers for faulty chassis and trailers discovered during roadside inspections. The working group is formulating a request to the DOT that would eliminate, from its Safestat motor carrier safety rating, those out-of-service and related equipment violations for which the motor carrier would not be held responsible under the shared responsibility concept. While progress on the overall concept has been slow, all participants agree that this solution is preferable to state or federal regulations, which in the end often result in a bureaucratic tangle that fails to guarantee the desired results.
As the transportation community tackles terrorism-driven security issues, the need for industry collaboration becomes paramount, from both policy and operational perspectives. The risk is that evolving security initiatives will impose one-size-fits-all countermeasures that inflict as much or more economic damage than terrorists acts alone. All modes must work together to help government forge strategies to better manage security risks without sacrificing supply chain efficiency. This objective is achievable by continuing to build on the working relationships that have evolved as a result of cooperative competition — co-opetition.
The Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) is a leading industry trade association representing the combined interests of the intermodal freight transportation community.
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