By Andrew Green, Staff Reporter 
Aggregate being off-loaded from the Windbuilt at Salt Marsh, Falmouth. - Contributed
A RECENT development in the transport sector means you are now less likely to get stuck behind a truck lumbering up Spur Tree Hill or Mount Diablo.
Coastal Shipping Limited transports bulk cargo to strategic points around the island. Developed by Roderick Francis, Roger Hinds and Charles Johnston, it aims to rationalise the heavy haulage business across the island.
"The logic is that the roads are too small for the huge trucks using them," Mr. Francis said. "We have more trucks on the road and more weight being carried than they were built for."
A loaded truck can weigh in at 30-40 tons compared to the average car weighing one to two tons, he said. This takes a heavy toll on both roads and bridges.
OPPORTUNITY
"I saw the new highway construction programme presenting us with an opportunity," Mr. Hinds said. There was the possibility of supplying the materials for its construction, but its completion offers an even bigger opportunity.
"The highway will transform the cost of transporting goods over the island," Mr. Hinds said. Highway tolls will offer opportunities to other forms of transport.
The pending changes in the transportation system made it critical, "to get up and start early," Mr. Hinds said.
Moving heavy, bulky goods by sea was the common means of transport in Jamaica two centuries ago, Mr. Francis said. Because the road system was poor, a network of ports developed to serve this coastal trade.
The development of Jamaica's road and rail network resulted in the demise of coastal transport and the old ports fell into decay.
Conceptualised by Mr. Francis two decades ago, Coastal Shipping Limited has bucked that trend. Mr. Hinds said he and Mr. Johnston were quick to join Mr. Francis as the idea is one that makes sense to anyone familiar with the shipping business.
Their tug, the EG Power hauls a huge barge, the Windbuilt, which is 200 feet long. Loaded with 2,200 tons of aggregate from the dock at the Fisheries Division complex in Kingston it sails to small ports around the island.
Sourced from quarries in close proximity to the Kingston complex, the aggregate is shipped to Black River, Falmouth, Port Kaiser, and an old logwood wharf at Mosquito Cove near Montego Bay.
The flexibility of the operation is shown by the response to damage in St. Thomas caused by the recent floods, Mr. Francis said. As the Yallahs fording was washed away, the EG Power now sails to the old sugar and banana wharf at Bowden to load materials from quarries in St. Thomas.
This eases pressure on the battered St. Thomas road network, Mr. Francis said.
It might appear that truckers would lose out in such a development, but this is not the case, Mr. Francis said. The best aggregate in the island is derived from the granite found in the south-east of the island. The Riu Hotel now under construction in Negril is using this material.
"A trucker had to leave Montego Bay for Kingston to pick up a load," he said. It takes a full day from the time the driver leaves his home to the time he returns.
"The trucker can now make money drawing loads within his area," Mr. Francis said. Truckers are needed to move materials from the quarry to the pick-up point and from the wharf where it is delivered to the customer. But rather than making one long trip, the trucker now makes several short trips.
"It is an opportunity for both parties," Mr. Hinds said. Apart from truckers and Coastal Shipping, the new system has the added benefit of reducing pollution, cutting traffic hazards and easing the destruction of road surfaces.
Employing 14 persons, the company now moves aggregate mainly for road improvement work around the island, Mr. Francis said. It transports about 4,500 tons of material per week.
There is substantial room for expansion both in the aggregate business and new areas, Mr. Hinds said. The company plans to begin shipping cement and other commodities.
"We have already identified another vessel for expansion," Mr. Hinds said. With the changes ahead in the transportation system, "The whole economic pie will expand."
