The toll charges for ships that will use the new Panama Canal lock system that's expected to open in 2014 are still unknown, leaving cost projections a mystery.
The volume of traffic through the canal will increase only moderately. At this month’s Northwest Intermodal conference in Portland, Oregon, Rodolfo Sabonge, vice president of market research and analysis for the canal, said, “We’re not expecting more transits – it’s economies of scale. We don’t think the expansion of the canal is really going to have the tremendous impact that people seem to think there will be on the intermodal system. We see growth around the world that will allow the Canal to maintain market share and provide many new opportunities – we think this will be the game changer.”
Railroad and distribution executives agreed that most of the traffic switch from the West Coast has already taken place.