SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
PACIFIC NORTHWEST TRADE AND LOGISTICS to take advantage of the opportunities presented by expanded inland imports, focusing on what its CEO and founder Ted Prince called the million-dollar question:“ Where can you transload?”
“ California is tapped out,” Prince said.“ So, the problem is, where do you do it? There’ s no land anywhere, and even if the land’ s there, you’ ve got NIMBY [ not in my backyard ], you’ ve got zoning and you might not find labor. Tri-Cities has all of that, but there’ s more than that.”
The PNW, Prince noted, offers a unique layering of networks.
“ It’ s got land, labor and electricity for import distribution, and none of those should be taken for granted,” he said. Pair those resources with the region’ s deep agriculture roots, and TCI is finding promise in moving grain from the Midwest to PNW’ s ports and helping growers decrease the cost of exporting, which is often their biggest expense.
“ The problem is that grain comes from the upper Midwest; there are no containers there,” Prince said.“ There are some operations in Chicago that will transload, but they’ re dependent on IPI containers, and that fluctuates, and not all IPI containers are suitable. Our point is if you can’ t bring the containers to the grain, bring the grain to the containers. We’ re only 200 miles away, but we have an inexhaustible supply of containers that we can move in from the port.”
The region has the infrastructure to support what Prince believes is a new mode for intermodal transportation.
“ There are a lot of intermodal dead spots in the United States, and this is how you fill them,” Prince said.“ This is how you bring business to the railroad, and this is how you contribute.”
TCI isn’ t the only logistics company capitalizing on the momentum of the seaports that comprise the NWSA. These initiatives also serve to support growth throughout the PNW, including Alaska, which in recent years has seen in a surge in infrastructure development— notably in oil and gas projects such as the Willow and Pikka ventures. These projects are expected to provide a 30 % increase to Alaska’ s oil production by 2032.
As a result, TOTE Maritime Alaska is seeing a demand for construction materials, equipment and supplies.
“ By leveraging the Port of Tacoma’ s strategic location and our customer-centric operations, we [ TOTE ] are positioned to capitalize on Alaska’ s growing market demands effectively,” Rye said.“ Whether that’ s state-of-the-art ships that are custombuilt for the unique challenges of delivering cargo to Alaska or investing in LNG technology to protect the air we breathe and the waters we sail, the expertise of our port partners and the support of the maritime industry from a community and government standpoint has been instrumental in our long-term success.” n
email: amy. wunderlin @ gmail. com www. joc. com May 5, 2025 | Journal of Commerce 61