Speaker: John Vickerman, Principal & Executive Vice President of Vickerman Zachery-Miller (VZM)

John Vickerman is a Principal and Executive Vice President of Vickerman Zachery-Miller (VZM), a division of TranSystems Corporation, an engineering/architectural firm which specializes in the planning and design of port and intermodal facilities. Under his leadership, VZM/TranSystem has become an internationally recognized firm known for providing innovative solutions to the many operational, planning and design issues that currently confront the transportation industry. Much of Mr. Vickerman's work focuses on assisting ports and shipping companies to recognize and prepare for future technological change.

As a specialist in intermodal terminal design, Mr. Vickerman has led TranSystems' work on major port projects throughout the United States and internationally. He was retained of new generation "mega-containerships" on the US port infrastructure and to present his findings at four industry summit meetings held throughout the U.S.

Mr. Vickerman is both a licensed civil engineer and registered architect in many states and holds a Masters Degree in Structural Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He has served on three major policy Committees of the Transportation Research Board of the National Research Council and also serves as Captain in the Civil Engineer Corps of the United States Naval Reserve.

Intermodal Freight Industry Trends: A current overview of the intermodal industry with a focus on emerging trends in freight logistics including shipper and carrier pressures and expectations including port selection criteria.

Changing Market Demand and Future Trade Dynamics: A big picture view of freight demand in the Western Hemisphere focusing on the US's evolving relationship with world trade partners including the emerging transshipment and hub and spoke logistics carrier strategies.

Impact of Advances in Vessel Design: Review of recent trends in mega-container ships and fast ship technologies relating to transportation infrastructure and its impacts. Overview of recent major mega-terminal developments.

Evolving Landside Intermodal Technology Requirements: An overview of marine, rail and road international and domestic cargo technology influences on modern transportation infrastructure defining the marine rail interface.

Opportunities in Transportation Information Technology: An overview of intermodal freight information technology demands ad its opportunities, as well as recent development in computer simulation for intermodal planning.