U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Public Affairs Washington, D.C. www.dot.gov/affairs/briefing.htm

News

MARAD 06-08	Contact: Shannon Russell
Friday, March 14, 2008	Tel.: (202) 366-5807

Maritime Administration Selects Director for Seattle Gateway Office

The Maritime Administration has named Randy Rogers to head its new Seattle Gateway Office. Rogers will be working with industry and government representatives in the Pacific Northwest to identify federal and state funding to work on reducing congestion, improve freight and passenger movement, and to meet environmental and community challenges in the ports and their intermodal connections.

The Maritime Administration recently established Gateway Offices in 10 of the Nation's largest ports to have a team of intermodal maritime experts in place to work with headquarters staff, state and local authorities and a broad range of port, shipper and carrier stakeholders.

Prior to this assignment, Rogers established the agency's prototype gateway office in Southern California where he addressed the challenges associated with the Nation's busiest container ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which handle a combined total of more than 40 percent of U.S. imports.

Because of the continued importance of the marine transportation system in Southern California, the Maritime Administration has prioritized filling the position in Long Beach and will soon be taking applications from qualified candidates for the position.

# # #