A Look Back at FreightWeekSTL 2024

Learn about the latest advances with some of the new technology we featured in 2023. This panel will bring back St. Louis startup Intramotev. It has made tremendous progress over the past year, deploying the first of its battery electric self-propelled rail cars at a customer site, where we can start to see how the technology the company is developing has the potential to make the U.S. rail system more efficient and sustainable. The panel also will feature updates on St. Louis-based UNCOMN‘s partnership with the Port of Long Beach to create a supply chain information highway that is capturing the attention of beneficial cargo owners due to its ability to access, analyze and integrate data from freight moving through the nation’s largest ports in a way that helps improve in-transit visibility. Israeli-based DockTech will return to highlight advances made in the deployment of the company’s “Digital Twin” technology that creates a virtual representation of the seabed of ports and waterways providing valuable insight for a variety of maritime stakeholders to help improve freight movement through the global port system.

St. Louis-based Sheer Logistics has created new technology that is helping to improve supply chain visibility and efficiency across the country. Hear more about Sheer Logistics’ 4PL/managed transportation services and how mid-market shippers are using the company’s award-winning tech-enabled logistics solutions to analyze CO2 emissions, manage freight costs and track freight all in one place, allowing them to generate meaningful and actionable business reporting and intelligence.

Learn more about investments being made in ports located along the Mississippi River and Missouri River waterways and how advancements at the Port of New Orleans are positively impacting ports in the St. Louis region and Kansas City. Find out how these investments and the connectivity and collaboration between the three regions will help support continued growth in both traditional barge traffic and container-on-barge services and intermodal operations in the Ag Coast of America by helping to connect the dots between manufacturers, growers, markets and shippers.

UPDATE: We regret to inform you that, due to necessary maintenance on our vessel, the Ag Coast of America Riverboat Tour scheduled for Tuesday, May 14 as part of FreightWeekSTL has been canceled.

We are disappointed that we will not be able to offer this special event as part of this year’s lineup. Payments will be refunded in the coming weeks. All other FreightWeekSTL 2024 events and sessions are proceeding as planned.

Within the supply chain industry, many factors can impact global cargo production and freight movement, including water levels, infrastructure investment, global challenges and crop production. In this session, participants will learn more about the agriculture and barge industry trends and future outlook for this year and how those might impact the movement of ag freight moving through the St. Louis region.

Don’t miss this opportunity to gather again in person for the Freight Summit featuring a keynote conversation with Shayne Gill on Infrastructure Investment as an Economic Driver. The keynote conversation will highlight the significance of the infrastructure investment occurring in the St. Louis region and the impact it has on the regional and national freight network, while spotlighting the work being done to foster the development, operation, and maintenance of an integrated national transportation system.

The event will also feature the release of the 2025 Priority Projects List, a valuable tool used to advocate for support and funding for critical infrastructure improvements that strengthen the St. Louis region’s position as a world-class freight and logistics hub for national and global supply chains, with associated remarks by representatives of both the Illinois and Missouri Departments of Transportation.

This event will be held at the Bi-State Development Headquarters Office in downtown St. Louis.

New for FreightWeekSTL 2024 is the opportunity to attend an MLS soccer game featuring St. Louis CITY SC against the Los Angeles Football Club and enjoy a Tailgate Happy Hour in downtown St. Louis prior to the action. There are a limited number of tickets to the game available for purchase. Soda, water, beer, seltzers, brats, hot dogs, and other food items will be available at the Tailgate Happy Hour, which is sponsored by the Transportation Club of St. Louis. Both events will provide an excellent opportunity to network with others participating in the weeklong FreightWeekSTL.

Those interested have the option to purchase tickets to the Tailgate Happy Hour only (4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.), or purchase a ticket to attend both the Happy Hour and the soccer game (7:30 p.m. kickoff).

Recent ongoing conflict in the Red Sea area, Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, cyberattacks in supply chains, low water levels in the Panama Canal, rising trade tensions with China, and other geopolitical incidents of the last two years have resulted in global supply chains facing unprecedented challenges. Shippers have had to work to reroute vessels and navigate transit interruptions and delays. Supply chain managers must look to carefully assess new risks in their chains. Learn about the greatest risks impacting the ability of American companies to access suppliers and manage the logistics of matching supply with demand, and how the St. Louis region is playing a part in helping to address these latest supply chain disruptions.

The session will feature updates from representatives of the St. Louis region’s world-class multimodal freight network and the barge industry who will discuss the latest trends in freight movement through the region by rail, river, roads and runways and highlight the tremendous optionality for shippers that exists in the bi-state area.

Digital release of the latest Industrial Market Report for the St. Louis region, which highlights the latest market fundamentals, recent trends in construction and development, and the current labor figures that demonstrate readiness to meet the workforce needs of the bi-state St. Louis region’s robust supply chain logistics, distribution and manufacturing industries. Targeted industries that are key drivers of the region’s economy will be spotlighted.

This session will focus on the tremendous workforce opportunities that exist within the logistics and manufacturing sectors in the St. Louis region. Learn more about the collaborations underway to grow the region’s workforce and the partnerships being forged to attract high school and college students to fill in-demand positions in these growing sectors in the near future, while building a pipeline of workers to meet future needs with an additional 1,000+ jobs being added over the next several years.