They are companies that are rich with family commitment to the business and are not publicly traded. But, to those who say that the existing regulatory system isn t competitive, I ask you to step around the bodies still warm on the competitive battleground. The regulatory structure for the U.S. international liner trades is the most competitive in the history of this country. It offers shippers an exceptionally large array of carriers from which to choose at very competitive rates. It has no restrictions to entry, and as we see some exit the business, we also see new entrants serving American commerce.
Shippers have more international ocean carrier choices than air carrier choices.
They have more choices than in the rail industry. They have more choices than in the domestic shipping industry. And those choices continue to exist and develop despite the growing demand for capital investment and marginal profitability. Because the industry believes that, with the three year struggle and compromise that successfully produced the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, they can look forward to a period of regulatory stability and predictability in the United States. If that stability and predictability is shattered, it can only produce less investment, fewer carriers and fewer choices.