COMMENT August 2025
Short-term pain, long-term gain A
merican businessman Jack Welch once famously said, “You can’t grow long-term if you can’t eat short-term. Anybody can manage short. Anybody can manage long. Balancing those two things is what management is.” For our industry, the balance lies between navigating short-term stormy weather while still
investing in the future. Regardless of your political position, the US imposing tariffs on many of its trading partners is creating some significant turbulence. In these circumstances, companies could be forgiven for postponing capital outlay on new cranes and handling equipment. However, while compiling this edition of Dockside Lift & Move, it was comforting to learn that many ports and their cargo handling operations remain focused on investment for long-term gain. For our regional report on North America, we spoke to OEMs and the ports themselves to get a good handle on how
tariffs are impacting the continent. And while tariffs are posing a challenge for some, others are not yet experiencing any headwinds. Flexibility comes into play here, as noted by the Louisiana Gateway Port. Its diversification has enabled it to maintain strong cargo volumes as it is less reliant on container handling than some of its peers. Time and again, across our interviews for this edition, the word that cropped up was “resilience”. The industry continues
to invest in that resilience, whether it is improving operational capabilities, going all in on digitalisation or procuring electric equipment to help meet sustainability targets. And nowhere is that adaptability more evident than in the breakbulk sector, which we look at in-depth for our sector report. What does this all mean for equipment manufacturers? Most importantly, orders continue to flow as ports invest in their
long-term futures. Naturally, there are also challenges. But help is on hand to deal with them, as highlighted in our In the Dock interview with Achim Dries, president and CEO of the Port Equipment Manufacturers Association.
Phoebe Galbraith,editor
Dockside Lift & Move Supplement | August 2025 | iii
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