Lift loading container onto truck in a railroad yard (text of audio follows photo)
Photo: Peter Costantini

Narrator

In the end, will consumers benefit from this maelstrom of competition and modernization in the shipping industry? Most analysts believe so, but there are skeptics, among them transport economist Warren Crowther.

Warren Crowther

With deregulation, in some ways we get closer to the possibility that maybe all these things going on could really benefit the consumer. However, there's a lot of sad history in that field. Look at what happened: you had everything modernized, port-wise, transport-wise, boat-wise, and everything, in the containerization of trade between the mainland United States and Puerto Rico. The cost of transport went way down. But for some reason, the cost of goods FOB and CIS went way up.

It used to be the whole idea was, the transport competition among modes is so ferocious that you don't need regulation, the market will work it out, right? But look what's happening: you're getting transport monopolies.

You've got these huge enforced port investments, these huge container monopolies. And once they push out all the small guys, because the small guys can't compete with that modernization, then they've got monopoly, and suddenly the users are paying more than they were before. I'm not saying that it's going that way, I'm just saying I've got a lot of questions that I would ask.

Narration and interviews by Peter Costantini