The 2019 Inland Marine Expo (IMX) wrapped up in St. Louis last week.
Here are some comments from general and education sessions that didn’t make it into my earlier reports.
- “The incidents of high-water events is increasing.” Ken Eriksen, senior vice president, IEG Vantage (formerly Informa Economics), during his annual state of the industry address
- “I think the greater concern is what comes after the high water. What kind of mess we’re left with.” — Eriksen
- “If you look at what farmers have done, it’s remarkable. It’s just a slow slog.” — Eriksen, addressing U.S.-China trade tariffs
- “The last thing we need is another humongous soybean crop in the United States.” — Eriksen
- “Some systems can’t be protected,” — Dean Shoultz, founder, MarineCFO, OpsGen, UA Business Cloud on cybersecurity
- “Get all beneficiaries who use it to pay for it.” — Mark Knoy, president and CEO, American Commercial Barge Line, on inland waterways user fees
- “There is no enforcement plan currently.” — Capt. Scott A. Stoermer, commander, sector Upper Mississippi River, U.S. Coast Guard, concerning boat owners who do not meet Subchapter M requirements come July 20
- “… in some cases, we’re finding gross lack of compliance.” — Capt. Stoermer on Subchapter M inspections
- “We are not surveyors. We are going out to inspect a compliant vessel.” Capt. Stoermer on using the Coast Guard option to get your boat’s COI
- “Every company has the option to use the Coast Guard option.” — Robert Keister, vice president, Sabine Surveyors, on choosing a third party or Coast Guard Subchapter M inspection for your vessel
- “Make sure your captains call a TSMS (Towing Safety Management System) a TSMS, even when it’s called something else.” — Keister
- “It’s the company that’s responsible for that survey.” — Christopher Parsonage, executive director, Towing Vessel Inspection Bureau
