Who we are and what we do

OUR MISSION STATEMENT

To develop and promote the use of America's Marine Highways as a commercially viable, safe, secure and environmentally beneficial means of reducing congestion along an overburdened surface transportation system. The Marine Highways Cooperative is committed to building a reliable alternative mode of waterborne transportation, capable of complementing rail and highway surface transportation and meeting the economic needs of American shippers.

COOPERATIVE PROGRAM GOALS

1. To encouraging cooperation across all transportation modes to create a seamless, multi-modal, and integrated marine highway transportation system along the coasts of the United States, our borders with Canada and Mexico, inland waterways and within the Great Lakes regions.
2. To develop the port infrastructure improvements necessary to provide marine highway transportation within freight corridors that are identified as heavily congested highway areas.
3. To educate Federal agencies, State transportation authorities, Metropolitan Planning organizations and the general public on the benefits of marine highways shipping.
4. To identify and develop new programs of Government support, tax incentives and financial programs to encourage public and private investment in a new marine highways transportation system.
5. To gather vessel operators, shippers, ports, U.S. Shipyards, third party logistics providers, labor, academic institutions and the trucking and rail industry under one association and work with these groups to provide valuable research, freight analysis, port development and financial models to support these investment opportunities and the growth of the national economy.
6. To assure that the transportation system and vessels developed are capable of supporting our military transportation requirements and the American Merchant Marine during times of National emergency and threats to Homeland Security.