U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao announced last month that the Maritime Administration (Marad) will establish a new, dedicated Gateway office in Paducah, Ky. Gateway offices provide assistance to public ports and state and local officials in addressing transportation congestion relief and improving freight and passenger movement.

“The Paducah-McCracken County Riverport is a multimodal center, with waterway, rail, and road connections, and with this level of maritime activity, it makes sense to place a Gateway office in Paducah,” Chao said in a statement.

The new location and resources will allow Marad to expand in the area around the Paducah hub, and be better able to support the inland waterway transportation system, its ports, service providers and vessel operators. Paducah’s proximity to three major river confluences will support stakeholders working to create a strong transportation network on our inland waterways

“This new Gateway office will support Paducah’s important role as an inland waterway crossroads between the Tennessee, Ohio, Cumberland and Mississippi rivers, as well as a major dry dock center,” said Chao.

Marad has nine other Gateway offices in proximity to the nation’s largest ports. The offices were established to act as liaisons between maritime communities, state and local authorities and their federal counterparts to identify intermodal challenges and solutions and assist in identifying federal and state funding opportunities.

“Enhancing Marad’s impact nationwide is critical for the continued success of the maritime industry,” said Maritime Administrator Mark H. Buzby.

The Inland Waterways Gateway Office in Paducah will have an area of responsibility which includes all or portions of the Kentucky-adjacent states of West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Tennessee. The Paducah office will also provide support to Marad’s St. Louis Gateway office for the states of Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Marad Gateway offices:

  • Eastern Gulf / Lower Mississippi Gateway (New Orleans): United States: Alabama; Arkansas; Louisiana; Mississippi; Tennessee; Western Panhandle of Florida. Mexico: Campeche; Chiapas; Durango; Northern Zacatecas; Nuevo Len; Quitana Roo; San Luis Potosi; Tabasco; Tamaulipas; Veracruz; Yucatan
  • Great Lakes Gateway (Chicago):United States: Indiana; Michigan; Northern Illinois; Northern Minnesota north of the North and South Dakota Borders; Northern Iowa/Missouri Border; Ohio; areas surrounding the St Lawrence Seaway; Wisconsin. Canada: Ontario; Quebec
  • Mid Atlantic Gateway (Norfolk, Va.): United States: Delaware, Maryland; North Carolina; Pennsylvania; Virginia; West Virginia
  • North Atlantic Gateway (New York): United States: Connecticut; Maine; Massachusetts; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New York; Pennsylvania east of Pittsburgh; Rhode Island; Vermont. Canada: New Brunswick; New Foundland; Nova Soctia; Prince Edward Island
  • Northern California Gateway (San Francisco/Oakland): United States: Hawaii; Guam; Nevada; Northern California, North of Point Conception; Utah
  • Pacific Northwest Gateway (Seattle): United States: Alaska; Oregon; Idaho; Washington. Canada: Alberta; British Columbia; Manitoba; Saskatchewan
  • South Atlantic Gateway (Miami): United States: Florida with the exception of anything west of the Apalachicola River; Georgia; Puerto Rico; South Carolina; Virgin Islands; The Bahamas
  • Southern California Gateway (Long Beach, Calif.): United States: Arizona; Southern California, south of Point Conception
  • Inland Waterways Gateway (St. Louis): United States: Iowa; Kansas; Kentucky; Missouri; Montana; Nebraska; North Dakota; South Dakota; Pennsylvania all areas west of Pittsburgh; Southern Illinois; Southern Minnesota; Wyoming
  • Western Gulf Gateway (Houston): United States: Colorado; New Mexico; Oklahoma; Texas; Mexico: Chihuahua; Coahuila

David Krapf has been editor of WorkBoat, the nation’s leading trade magazine for the inland and coastal waterways industry, since 1999. He is responsible for overseeing the editorial direction of the publication. Krapf has been in the publishing industry since 1987, beginning as a reporter and editor with daily and weekly newspapers in the Houston area. He also was the editor of a transportation industry daily in New Orleans before joining WorkBoat as a contributing editor in 1992. He has been covering the transportation industry since 1989, and has a degree in business administration from the State University of New York at Oswego, and also studied journalism at the University of Houston.