Dimensions - Fall 2014 - 1

spotli g h t on
t h e sta f f

Rachel
Vandenberg

National Director for Ports and Intermodal

Coming on board at Dewberry a few months ago, I

our diverse experts can provide broad-reaching

was immediately connected with colleagues to share

solutions by applying supply chain-focused

our knowledge and experience. This included, of

thinking to our projects. This may include:

course, a good meal or two; however, I was most likely
the only one at the table thinking about the supply
chain involved to bring the food to our table. Even in
communities where "locally grown" is preferred, unless
the food was harvested in your backyard, it traveled by
some mode of transportation to reach you.
For much of my career, I've focused on the

* Total delivered cost of the load, from
manufacturing plant to the store (including
all types of handling and storage in between)
* Time to market and, where the supply chain
acts as a moving warehouse, time-certainty
in goods handling and transport

interconnectivity of transit, rail, highway, and port

* Reliability for transportation users

and marine sectors, and how investments in this

* How to do all of this safely within

infrastructure can have a direct correlation to a
community's economic strength. This fall, this has
included the privilege of sitting down with port directors
and transportation leaders to discuss trends they
anticipate in goods movement. We discussed potential
shifts away from the current dominance of Asia-Pacific
imports to the Los Angeles-Long Beach gateway, as well
as greater diversification of supply chain networks to
mitigate disruptions and improve cost-efficiency. We're
seeing emphasis by policy makers on freight mobility
as an important economic driver; the Panama Canal
expansion is helping to keep freight mobility in the
national spotlight. Last, and certainly not least, is the
cross-agency planning and cross-entity partnerships
that are beginning to take root to provide broader,
multimodal solutions for goods movement.
In this area I see a lot of opportunity for our
clients. As infrastructure improvements are planned,

infrastructure that is also moving people to
work, store, and play
A multimodal planning approach provides the
end-to-end solution. It takes into account roads,
bridges, railroads, marine terminals, airports,
warehousing and distribution, goods handling
and storage, waterways and navigation, wharves,
and coastal protection.
Just as I have helped clients plan for these
multimodal connections, I'm now actively
engaged in helping my new colleagues tie together
our services into a seamless package. From
highway and rail design to site development
and building design to coastal engineering and
climate resilience, we have the opportunity to help
clients understand the benefits of more integrated
infrastructure to their communities.
Fall 2014

1
http://www.dewberry.com/news/blog/14-10-02/The_Panama_Canal_Expansion_Challenging_the_State_of_Intermodal_Transportation_pt_I
Dimensions - Fall 2014

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