• Do players in your industry manufacture overseas? What aspects of their operations do they outsource?

Most transportation companies, U.S.-based or foreign, do not do manufacture anything for themselves. Companies like UPS, CSX, American Shipping Lines, Maersk, and American Airlines require small and large vehicles, airplanes, ships, and train cars to move their product, whether it be people or goods. These companies, while they do boast their logo on every vehicle they use, purchase these vehicles from separate equipment manufacturers such as General Motors, Ford, Greenbrier, Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier, STX Shipyards, and others.

Whether a vehicle is manufactured in the United States depends on two main factors: Location of Company and Vehicle Type. When it comes to cars and trucks, it is almost always location, location, location. For instance, most of US-based companies UPS' and FedEx's United States ground trucks (implemented in the U.S.) are manufactured by Ford or General Motors. However, the ground division in Europe often implements Mercedes trucks, which are manufactured in Germany. UPS's US semi-trucks are manufactured by Kenworth, Peterbilt, and other US companies. UPS's European semi-trucks are manufactured by Volvo, Scannia, and others. When it comes to trains, it varies. US rail cargo company CSX, uses rail cars manufactured by Oregon-based company, Greenbrier. US passenger rail company Amtrak uses cars built by Bombardier International, which has facilities in 23 countries, including the United States. However, it is impossible to tell exactly where each individual part was made on each car.

When it comes to ships and airplanes, the array of manufacturers thins. When US airline American Airlines needs a new plane, they have three real options: Boeing, Airbus, and Bombardier. These companies are the only ones large enough to fulfill the large orders required by a company like American Airlines, or Delta, the world's largest passenger airliner (it also happens to be US-based). All of Boeing's manufacturing facilities are in the United States. Airbus and Bombardier are both foreign-based (the former in Denmark and the latter in Canada) and operate facilities around the world.

Shipping is even more limited. Chances are, when a massive maritime shipping company such as Maersk needs a new ship, they will head to South Korea, which produces more than half of the world's ships. They are extremely efficient shipbuilders, and South Korean company STX recently acquired Aker Yards, Europe's largest shipbuilder. Due to inefficiencies in the US, non-military shipbuilding, has become negligible in the global marketplace. Even US companies such as American Lines are contracting ships from foreign shipyards.

When companies like UPS, CSX, and Delta choose to purchase from American manufacturers, they are doing a service to the economy that made their existence possible. When Delta chooses Boeing to make their newest fleet, even if it may be slightly more expensive than Airbus, they are keeping the US competitive and showing "country loyalty." A major area the US is lacking in is shipbuilding. The government needs to stop subsidizing shipbuilders, which masks inefficiencies in US shipbuilders. Overall however, in terms of US companies using US equipment, the future looks bright.

www.fedex.com
www.boeing.com
www.ups.com
http://www.maersk.com/Pages/default.aspx