Wake Up and Smell the (Mexican) Coffee! Joseph P. Linck, Jr., is a retired commodities trader and former Port Director at the Port of Brownsville. In the following interview, he has some rather stern words about the inland ports and waterways industry and its failure to capitalize on trade with our southern neighbors.
2011 Issue VI
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inck has extensive experience in trading south of the border. “I made my living trading commodities via inland barges and ships, to and from Mexico, chartering vessels. I sold my last company, Global Stone, to Vulcan Materials Corp., around eight years ago, and retired. We imported crushed stone for road building via 65,000-ton bulkers, and inland barges. Our company was the first to do this here. Now Vulcan is one of Brownsville’s biggest customers.” To stay updated on potential shipping bonanzas, Linck reads many Spanish language industrial newspapers and trade journals. He has published some articles in Spanish about the cargo opportunities on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. He believes bilingual staff is imperative for success. “With USA railroads and trucks doing over 100 million tons per year of cargo, I am amazed that I’ve never met a barge freight salesman who speaks Spanish, or ever goes to Mexico. The Union Pacific alone has three sales offices in Mexico, and employ over 35 freight salesmen,” he says. “Railroads enjoy a virtual transportation monopoly over the entire NAFTA trading relationship with Mexico, one of the USA’s most important. The entire USA inland waterway industry is missing out on its single biggest potential new market by ignoring Mexico’s NAFTA inspired new industrial revolution.” Under the auspices of his NAFTA Marine Highway Company, Linck sends out periodic email updates on certain commodities coming up from Mexico, and their
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