Posted on December 28, 2017
By Will Robinson, Jacksonville Business Journal
The logistics world in 2017 produced more than its fair share of headlines. After years of studies, debates and proposals, Jaxport received federal funding to dredge the St. Johns River and contracted the first three miles of its deepening project. The Jacksonville Transportation Authority unveiled a plan to use autonomous vehicles to extend the Skyway throughout downtown and surrounding areas. Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) built and opened two fulfillment centers. CSX Corp. (Nasdaq: CSX) brought in a CEO who made sweeping operational changes but unexpectedly succumbed to an illness in December. A liquefied natural gas industry was born in Jacksonville to service maritime shippers who are incorporating the fuel source.
Dredging
Jaxport began dredging on the St. Johns River to deepen the shipping channel to 47 feet. The Dutra Group was awarded the contract to deepen the first three miles for $22.8 million, $20 million less than an estimate by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Deepening on the first three miles began Dec. 15 and is expected to finish in August of 2019, by Army Corps estimates. Jaxport is working to deepen 11 miles of the river, although it has Congressional authorization to deepen 13 miles. Once deeper, the port can serve larger vessels that sit deeper in the water.
Skyway
Change is coming to the Skyway, Jacksonville’s decades-old people mover. The 2.5-mile, elevated infrastructure will be retrofitted to accommodate autonomous vehicles in the coming years. The vehicles will be able to descend to city streets via off-ramps and travel to EverBank Field, San Marco, Riverside and more when the Skyway becomes the Ultimate Urban Circulator (U2C). JTA is currently experimenting with different AV models on its test track, which has ferried x people so far between Intuition and Daily’s Place. The test track is meant to ease public acceptance of the technology and work out the kinks of autonomous transit.
Amazon
Amazon has landed in Jacksonville. It plans to employ 2,700 people by early 2018 between two fulfillment centers. The centers, which opened this fall, rely on miles of conveyor belts and advanced robotics to process orders. Many local logistics companies were excited about Amazon’s arrival, believing that the ecommerce giant would depend on local warehouses, couriers, packagers and more.
CSX
CSX Corp. hired Hunter Harrison as president and CEO in March, and he immediately began implementing precision scheduled railroading, an efficiency-focused operating model he’s used to transform two other railroads. In pursuit of efficiency, CSX laid off more than 4,000 people, closed nine hump yards, consolidated its dispatch offices across nine states into a single Jacksonville office and eliminated nearly 1,000 locomotives from its fleet this year. The rapid changes were not seamless; CSX endured derailments, customer complaints, inquiries from a federal regulatory agency and several executive exits. Mixed messages from CSX caused confusion around the timing of dispatchers’ move to Jacksonville, which caused significant hardship for dispatchers in eight states; many were stuck paying for housing in two cities or without anywhere to live. Unrelated to its new operating model, the railroad withstood damage from Hurricane Irma and is being sued by the federal government. Harrison died Dec. 16 just two days after taking an unexpected medical leave. Chief Operating Officer James Foote has become acting CEO less than two months after joining CSX.
LNG
Industry experts in liquefied natural gas recognized Jacksonville as an example of successful LNG adoption during a weeklong summit hosted on the First Coast. The sixth annual Natural Gas for High Horsepower Summit attracted executives from Shell, Exxon, various LNG suppliers and more as well as federal regulators. Local companies reaffirmed their commitment to the alternative fuel. Tote Maritime already uses LNG-powered vessels, while Crowley Maritime will add LNG-vessels to its fleet in the next year; Eagle LNG, Pivotal LNG and Jax LNG are finishing construction on Jacksonville facilities that will supply LNG to vessels and for exports.
Source: Jacksonville Business Journal
