Hamilton Port presses for cargo ferry link to N.Y.

HAMILTON, Ont. (March 25, 2004) — The Hamilton Port Authority and provincial government officials met yesterday to discuss the possibility of a cross-lake, cargo trailer ferry service between Hamilton Harbour and Oswego, N.Y.

The Hamilton Spectator is reporting that port officials are pushing for the creation of the “short-sea” shipping service, which they say would ease congestion near regions in and around the QEW, as well as reduce traffic tie-ups at the Buffalo, N.Y.-Fort Erie, Ont. border.

The HPA proposal would transport 90 to 110 at a time, overnight, about three times a week to start, the newspaper reported. The barge trip is expected to take about 12 hours.

Ontario-bound trucks from the U.S. would drive to Oswego port rather than heading west along the I-90 on the southern side of Lake Ontario through Buffalo and up into Canada, according to the proposal. The trailers would be loaded onto a barge, and the truck and driver would return home. The barge would travel the 265 kilometres along the shore of Lake Ontario, passing through the Burlington Ship Canal to Hamilton Harbour. There, the trailers would be removed from the barge and connected to other tractors to continue the journey.

Although some truckers dealing with border hassles and new hours of work rules indicated they’d be interested in the concept, others were initially skeptical. John Kingma, president of Empire Transportation in Grimsby, Ont. wondered how the lake trip — at 12 hours not including loading and unloading — could save truckers a substantial amount of time.

Enno Jakobson, director of risk management for Challenger Motor Freight in Cambridge, Ont. said such a service would need to be evaluated on a case by case basis. “In he normal course of business it probably wouldn’t be a real big feature for us,” he told Today’s Trucking. “But there could be situations where I could see it being utilized as somewhat the same way we use rail to deal with capacity issues, depending on volumes and cost and things like that … as for the (benefits), you probably gain something on customs clearance, but might lose it on transit time.”

HPA officials indicated that if the service proves to be a success, they would also attempt a second ferry service between Prescott, Ont., and Hamilton Harbour, via the St. Lawrence River, so that truckers could avoid traffic congestion on the 401 highway through Toronto.

While stressing he’s not aware of the full details of such a proposal, Paul Dean, vice-president and GM of Prescott, Ont.-based Kriska Transportation said that, at first glance a ferry service for trailers down the St. Lawrence to Hamilton didn’t seem too appealing. “The challenge in the end will be if the scheduling meets the demands of the customer,” Dean told Today’s Trucking. “Now, without knowing what the boat time will be, I have to say they don’t look too fast.

“And, I’d hate to admit it quite frankly, but rail intermodal is still more conducive in partnering with trucking than what is perhaps a slower mode. If the exercise is to deal with congestion or pollution issues on what is a relatively short-haul, I doubt this would be as viable of an alternative … but I say that without fully knowing the speed or all the details of the (ferry) ship.”

Another factor that makes the Hamilton-Oswego proposal less appealing for some carriers on the surface is the fact that — unlike current ferry services between Windsor and Detroit or the upcoming ferry starting in May between Toronto and Rochester, N.Y. — only trailers will be accommodated. That suggests Canadian truckers will likely have to partner with U.S. carriers in many cases, which adds to the overall cost, notes Dean.

— with files from the Hamilton Spectator