Rolling on the River

To establish and grow an alliance designed to generate new business by promoting international and inland trade routes at strategic locations along the Mississippi River is the intent of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) recently signed by The St. Louis Regional Freightway, Plaquemines Port Harbor & Terminal District located in the State of Louisiana, and four ports in the St. Louis region.

The agreement represents a five-year commitment, and calls for joint marketing initiatives and data exchange to further those goals. It embodies the St. Louis region’s strong support for the efforts underway by marine transportation services company American Patriot Holdings and the Port of Plaquemines to develop a hub-and-spoke transportation system for container transport vessel shipments from Plaquemines, at the mouth of the Mississippi River just south of New Orleans, to the St. Louis region.

Initial discussions have focused on loading operations at a centralized location in Jefferson County, Missouri, with feeder services by rail, barge, and truck throughout the bi-state region and the Mississippi River Basin, resulting in low costs and efficient transportation.

The MOU follows the signing of an exclusive agreement in 2017 by Plaquemines Port and American Patriot Holdings to provide container service from a future terminal in Plaquemines to destinations as far north as Chicago.

The agreement among the five ports and St. Louis Regional Freightway will help facilitate sharing of marketing activities and enable them to exchange data and findings from marketing studies relative to developing port opportunities. It also offers the parties opportunities to share information on improvements and modernization efforts, and technological capabilities and programs.