Transportation
Available Modes of Transportation
The businesses of today all point toward a diverse mix of methods of transportation. The various modes of transportation that are currently available for different businesses today vary with the type of business that requires the service. There are airlines, railroads, water transportation, public transit, airports and trucking.
All of these modes are considered to have global impacts as their presence fills the roads, seas and air to date. The particular growth that these various modes of transportation have experienced are mostly due to the fact that the technology regarding the tracking of items have already developed over the years. The cargo is now readily tracked by various methods. (Doleta.gov, 2008) The transportation industry is now ready and available to deliver cargo from business to business.
The Increase In Fuel Costs
The choice of whether a business will want to invest in a particular mode of transportation will depend largely on the transportation costs of that method. One of the direct factors that relate to this is the increase in fuel costs. The fuel costs greatly affect the transport costs and the transport costs, in effect, are relied upon by the businesses. When transport costs spike, internation and domestic trade are negatively affected. This means that the effect of the transport costs on trade is exacerbated by distance as well as prices of fuel. (Matthee et al., 2007)
Most of the fastest ways to transport cargo is now becoming more expensive simply because of the increase in fuel costs. Until the population is able to find a solution to the dilemma created by world’s demand for oil, we will need to count on different modes of transportation. (Doleta.gov, 2008) One solution to that is the tugboat which has the ability to move large amounts of cargo. These engineering marvels are able to become a valid competitor amidst the challenge of rising fuel costs.
The History of Tugboats in Commercial Uses
The Charlotte Dundas, an early steamboat propelled by a paddle-wheel at the stern, is regarded as the world’s first practical steamboat. She was the first towing steamboat and was able to demonstrate how practical steam power was for ships. Her engine was put in early in 1801 by William Symington, the British pioneer of marine steam propulsion and was named after Lord Dundas’s daughter. The Charlotte Dundas was employed by the Forth-Clyde Canal Company when Lord Dundas decided to conduct experiments in using steam tugs as a towing vessel instead of horses on canals.
She survived until 1861. It was not until several years after her inception was the first reference to a tug was seen. It was the name given to a small towing ship that had been built as a ship assistant. The first towing company was Moran towing, founded in New York in 1860. During the civil war, many tugboats were put into military service to perform various jobs, including one which was credited with saving Fort Sumpter. In 1915, a tugboat was the first vessel to enter the locks, signaling the opening of the new Erie Canal.
Current tugboats are known for their raw power. They are used to push, to pull, and maneuver. They can be found cruising down a river, working in a port, or working in the open sea, and usually only see a 6 to 9 knot top speed. There are two types of tugboats, Inland or Oceangoing. Inland tugboats come in two categories, Harbor and River tugs. Harbor tugs are the most typical of all tugboats. They are used to move ships in and out and to move industrial barges around waterfront businesses. Their job has remained the same, but their design and engineering has changed much over the decades.
Harbor tugs used to be paddle wheelers, but their job has always been the same. River tugs are also known as towboats or pushboats. They are designed as large squared-off vessels with flat bows for connecting with the rectangular stern of the barges. They are large and powerful, capable of pushing huge fleets of barges that are lashed together into “tows”. Smaller push boats usually handle only a few barges on inland waterways. Some tows can be up to 1,000 feet long and over 200 feet wide. Regardless of the size, they are designed to push rather than tow.
On an inland marine waterway system is a network of more that 25,000 miles, including the Mississippi, the Hudson, and the Delaware, tugboats push barges filled with coal, oil, chemicals and other bulk materials, including the waste of large cities. They can move 600 million tons of goods each year, goods that would otherwise require vast fleets of trucks. For example, a typical gasoline barge, loaded with its capacity of 2,400,000 gallons of gas, will meet the demand for 200,000 fill-ups at the pump, provide the fuel for driving 384,000,000 (yes, that’s million) miles in the average car, and give that average car the needed combustion to putt-putt its way around the world 14,769 times. To make that delivery by truck would take a convoy of tanker trucks that would move along bumper-to-bumper, stretching for nearly three miles.
The Vital Role of Tugboats in Society
Different Roles of Tugboats
The role of tugboats in the society differ but one thing stays the same: they are workhorses which move huge amounts of cargo as well as passengers. The nation heavily relies on workers in water transportation occupations such as commercial ships. These merchant mariners in turn, are the ones who make use of the various tugboats and other waterborne crafts for transportation and the carrying and transport of cargo. (U.S. Dept of Labor Occupational Handbook)
Requirements of a Tugboat Captain
There are various requirements in order to become a tugboat captain. The STCW 1995, which is the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping requires mariners who are part of a navigational watch to be trained as well as assessed with regard to their competencies regarding their duties. They should hold an STCW form which is endorsed as a Rating Forming Part of a Navigational Watch. Furthermore, as a trip pilot, captains need to have a Master of Towing Vessel USCG License which gives them the license to pilot any size tugboat. (Wikipedia.org, 2008)
Homeland Security and Coastguard relations
There are stricter rules for those who are managing tug boats. However, it is agreed upon that an immigration inspection will not be required of any crewman aboard a Great Lakes vessel of United States registry or a tugboat of United States registry arriving from Canada at a port of the United States who has been examined and admitted by an immigration officer as a member of the crew of the same vessel or tugboat or of any other vessel or tugboat of the same company. (Department of Homeland Security, 2008)
- Personnel may be limited because of the hierarchy of check that are warranted in the tugboat. One instance is that APC will notify the U.S Coast Guard Group San Diego in writing 15 days prior to the start of offshore operations at the site. This will provide written notification of the project start date and the intent to conduct marine operations at the site. (Section Fourteen – Marine Safety Plan, 2007)
- New regulations also require captains to pay for their own security paperwork. This only puts on bigger responsibilities for the people who would like to pilot tugboats.
Life on the Tugboat
The life of the crewmen in tugboats is quite hard as it can affect family life. Being married to a husband who works on a tugboat isn’t easy as there are instances wherein people are unable to see their families for weeks and at times it could even extend longer.
- The schedule that people working in tugboats have is quite difficult because they work weeklong shifts and only get a break every other week. There are times that merchant mariners follow a schedule of two or three weeks.
- Families deal with it by simply adjusting to the lifestyle of the absentee parents who work on tugboats. They make the most out of the time that their parents are on break.
- The salary varies depending on the experience, license, endorsement as well as the location. There are some whose annual pay exceeds that of $100,000 per year and for some people, since this is their career, it is the payoff that they have for having such an erratic work schedule.
Environmental Impacts
Environmental impact of tractor trailers vs. tugboats
The technology of tugboats today is built on hybrid technology. There are parallel hybrid configurations of tugboats who run on electric power as opposed to those semi trucks who are known for their pollutants because of the fuel that they use up. (Siuru, 2007)
Changes in Inland Water System
There could be an increase in the buildings of waterways in order to facilitate the different water transport systems that are readily available. This could serve as a way to accommodate the various water transport systems that are out there. (Finlayson & D’Cruz, 1991)
Accidents in Waterways
With regard to accidents and spills in waterways, cleanup is done immediately but there are new laws that are being looked into in order to dissuade such mishaps. One of the laws that have been scrutinized is the Massachusetts law which requires a bigger insurance for those owners who possess large water vehicles. The law requires owners of certain large vessels to carry a $1 billion insurance policy, an issue under state control. (Maffei, 2004)
OSHA and safety regulations
Who oversees the safety regulations in the commercial boating industry.
It is the OSHA that overseas the safety regulations in the commercial boating industry.
Are tugboats required to maintain the same OSHA paperwork as a typical business?
Tugboats utilize customized paperwork in its operations.
How are the statistics for accidents different compared to other modes of transportation.
The Missouri Department of Transportation reported in 2006 that there were a total of 87, 708 car and land vehicle crashes that happened during that year for that state alone. Compare that to the top ten states which had boating accidents in the past amounting only to around 800 in California. There are more traffic crashes than boating accidents in the United States.
The Future of Tugboats
Commercial Boating Industry and Discrimination Laws
The employment outlook in the transportation is good: employment in the transportation industry is expected to increase from 4,205,000 jobs in 2002 to 5,120,000 jobs in 2012, an increase of 914,000 jobs (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). Between 2002 and 2012 there will be substantial employment opportunities in a wide range of transportation-related occupations, such as: truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer: 337,000 new jobs, bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists: 38,000 new jobs, and railroad conductors and yardmasters: 10,000 job openings (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
The Difference Between European Tugboats Industry & the U.S. Tugboat Industry.
With regard to the difference between the U.S. tugboat industry and the European tugboat industry, the latter is now more focused on a globally mobile towage industry while the U.S. is just beginning to increase their accommodation of international cargo. (Rowlinson, 2002)
Employment in the marine industry, including the tugboat sector is showing slow growth; slower than the average for all occupations through 2014. Job growth will be because of an increase in tourism and increases in shipping traffic due to rising imports. Operating a U.S. ship is more comparable to foreign-flagged ships and has increased slightly the amount of international cargo carried by U.S. ships, because competition from ships that sail under foreign flags of convenience has lessened as the standards of operation have become more uniform. Employment growth also is expected in passenger cruise ships. Vessels that operate between U.S. ports are required by law to be U.S.-flagged vessels. Plans are in the works at the Federal level that could lead to greater use of ferries to handle commuter traffic in bigger cities. Job openings will also result from attrition.
Works Cited
- Department of Homeland Security. (2008) Great Lakes vessels and tugboats arriving in the United States from Canada; special procedures. Accessed on 18 June 2008 from Website: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2005/janqtr/pdf/8cfr252.5.pdf
- Finlayson, M & D’Cruz, R. (1991). Inland Water Systems. Accessed on 18 June 2008 from Website: http://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.289.aspx.pdf
- Maialetti, Kim. (2001). For tugboat operators, long hours and tough tasks are part of the life they love. Accessed on 18 June 2008 from Website: http://www.southjerseynews.com/battleship/m092401e.htm
- Maffei, G. (2004). Coast Guard Objects to Massachusetts Tanker Law. Boston Globe. Accessed on 18 June 2008 from http://www.americanwaterways.com/press_room/newsletter/2004/102904.html
- Matthee, M., Grater, S. & Krugell, W. (2007). ON EXPORTS AND DOMESTIC TRANSPORT COSTS:AN INDUSTRY VIEWPOINT. Accessed on June 18, 2008 from http://www.essa.org.za/download/2007conference/MattheeGrater&Krugell_Transport%20cost.pdf
- 2006 Missouri State Highway System Traffic Crash Statistics. Accessed on 18 June 2008 from Website: http://www.modot.mo.gov/safety/documents/2006AccidentStatisticsManualChapter1.pdf
- Newman, Andy. (2006). On Tugboat Alley, A New School For Mariners. Accessed on 18 June, 2008 from Website: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/22/nyregion/22seaman.html
- Rating Forming Part of a Navigation Watch Work & Record Book. (2007) Accessed on 18 June 2008 from Website: <http://www.msc.navy.mil/civmar/training/RFPNW-WORKRECORDBOOK-revisedOct07.pdf
- SECTION FOURTEEN – MARINE SAFETY PLAN. (2007) Daily Security Clearance. Accessed on 18 June 2008 from Website: http://209.85.141.104/search?q=cache:r2w3vnxv-BIJ:www.slc.ca.gov/Division_pages/DEPM/DEPM_Programs_and_Reports/SONGS/DEIR/App%2520F_marine%2520safety%2520plan.doc+will+notify+the+U.S+Coast+Guard+Group+San+Diego+in+writing+15+days+prior+to+the+start+of+offshore&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1
- Siuru, Bill. Hybrid tugboats for San Pedro Bay Ports. Diesel Progress North American Edition. June 2007. FindArticles.com. Retrieved 21 May 2008 from: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FZX/is_6_73/ai_n19330475
- U.S. Department of Labor. http://www.doleta.gov/BRG/JobTrainInitiative/
- Wikipedia.org. (2008). Trip Pilots. Accessed on 18 June 2008 from Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trip_pilots
