REBUILD THE UNITED STATES!

ELON MUSK & TESLA ARE REBUILDING THE UNITED STATES BY STAS MARGARONIS Elon Musk is making the United States a global leader in car manufacturing with his development of the Tesla models of electric cars which eliminate the need for gasoline and the internal combustion engine. The company is developing a car battery factory to improve the range and reduce the costs of its electric cars and to...

CAN ILWU RESTORE PACIFIC PORT COMPETITIVENESS? BY STAS MARGARONIS   Introduction International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) executives told California agricultural exporters at the recent Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC) conference that the ILWU can make ports more competitive. However, there must be collaboration between the ILWU and the Pacific Maritime Association...

Automated Long Beach Container Terminal & Marine 5 Highway Ships Can Reduce I-710/5/580 Truck Congestion & Emissions  By Stas Margaronis Super economical, 18,000 twenty foot unit container ships will be arriving at the Port of Long Beach’s new Long Beach Container Terminal (LBCT) after the automated terminal opens in early 2016. LBCT will allow Long Beach to handle the largest ships in...

SJV TRUCKING/SJV EXPRESS: CALIFORNIA’S MARINE 5 HIGHWAY BY STAS MARGARONIS  New coastal Marine 5 Highway container ships sailing between Stockton/Oakland and Long Beach/Los Angeles could be the answer for San Joaquin Valley (SJV) exporters and importers facing growing delays and congestion at the ports of Oakland, Long Beach and Los Angeles. The Port of Oakland is increasingly challenged in...

CALIFORNIA DESALINATION STRATEGIES: AN INTERVIEW WITH RANDY TRUBY BY STAS MARGARONIS   Randy Truby, California-based desalination consultant and comptroller for the International Desalination Association, told RBTUS in an interview that he believes states experiencing long-term drought conditions, such as California, may need to consider new investments in desalination plants in order to...

ANTHONY VEDER: NEW LNG BUNKER AND TRANSPORTER COULD SPEED LNG FUELING AT PORTS BY STAS MARGARONIS A new Dutch transporter will also act as a floating LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) fuel depot at European ports building up their capacity to supply new LNG powered ships that are just beginning to come on line. U.S. ports might also benefit from deployment of such vessels. Jan Valkier, CEO of Anthony...

MEDSHARE: MEDICAL SUPPLIER TO THE NEEDY BY STAS MARGARONIS MedShare is an Atlanta based non-profit that provides medical equipment and basic supplies such as gauze, bandages, syringes, etc. to countries in need. Most recently, MedShare sent 30 containers to West Africa as part of a support effort to combat the Ebola virus. Last week, a collaboration of Rotarians from Santa Rosa, California and...

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION EMPOWERS CALIFORNIA’S 75 PERCENT BY STAS MARGARONIS, WWW.RBTUS.COM Last spring, Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) convened a solar business advisory group to discuss how the college can better help businesses. One business owner complained that high school graduates are increasingly unable to perform elementary tasks such as showing up at the job on time, following...

AVOID 710 FREEWAY WIDENING: BUILD THE MARINE 5 HIGHWAY & LONG BEACH SHIPYARD BY STAS MARGARONIS, RBTUS.COM An alternative to widening the 710 freeway, linking the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, is to shift containerized truckloads onto ships. In this way, containers can be transported from the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles to ports such as San Diego, Port Hueneme, Oakland,...

M-580 : HOW CONTAINER HANDLING COSTS UNDERMINED SERVICE BY STAS MARGARONIS,  RBTUS.COM In September, the Port of Stockton says  it is discontinuing the M-580 tug/barge service between the California Ports of Stockton and Oakland. One factor:  high costs for loading and unloading containers. The suspension comes as a result of an $8 million loss to the Port of Stockton which had received a $12...