The Cargo Conundrum: Water Isn’t the Answer
Written By:
Trevor Pan, President BidBird, Inc.
The once $270 billion Panama Canal has become the Malt-O-Meal
of cargo transit. Along with its water levels, seaborne traffic has dropped nearly 40%.
For shipping companies, it’s understandable why the canal has fallen from the top shelf of the cereal aisle;
they can either cut in line (and pay to do it), or wait in line (and pay fines to their client).
Or, they can take an alternate, longer route (which, you guessed it, they pay for).
Why would anyone choose this unpredictable nightmare?
Cargo transshipment's don’t have a robust rail network to land on. After all, droughts of this kind are exceptionally
rare in a tropical locale. Furthermore, the oceans and cities adjacent to the ports make long rails impossible in Panama.
The last two-thirds of a train cannot get serviced, simply because the ports are not that long.

System for Cargo Transport
Filed with Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
Patent application published
Began outreach to the Panama Canal Authority
Wall Street Journal Ad
Seeking investment bank to start process for issuing private corporate bonds
Preliminary design study
Coordinate an architectural and engineering study with canal

Photo: Panama Canal Authority

Photo: CBS News
Drought at Panama Canal Threatens 40% of Worldwide Cargo Ship Traffic (CBS News)

Photo: Martin Shields Director Business Development Shipping

Photo: Seattle Times Bloomberg
Saving the Panama Canal: Will Take Years and Cost Billions (The Seattle Times)
The Bundled Opportunity
Our revolution of rail freight transshipment uses existing container terminals on both the Caribbean and Pacific sides of the canal.
The existing rail line that connects ports isn’t configured for major transshipments. But, it can be by either building a new two-pair rail project
or simply adding another pair of rails to move the bundles. Prior projects have already sketched this out.
BidBird’s patent-pending bundle towers, as phase 2, make it possible for multiple liners to drop cargoes on one side, store them, then later
place them on a new liner on the opposite side of the canal. This changes the route of ships, but not of the cargoes inside.
Locations for container/cargo storage (and one prime spot) are shown in dashed red rectangle below.
In 2023, the Panama Canal traded $270 billion USD. Now, seaborne trade is down 30%.
Prospective Customers
The following ports would pay for the transshipment of cargoes and delivery to their terminal, shown below. With this, they can always depend on the rails to hold cargoes, whereas the canal is a wildcard.

Photo: Port terminals on the Caribbean Sea
Here are some of the locations of ports that this can be implemented in:

Photo: Port terminals on the Pacific Ocean
The BidBird Solution
The answer isn’t in the cereal aisle.
As drought conditions created these challenges for Gutan Lake — and subsequently for the operational
efficiency of the Panama Canal’s locks — our solution innovates alternative strategies without using water.
The patent-pending BidBird Bundle can deliver containers in densities never seen before. With 8x more space,
we can trim a mile long train to 1/8 of a mile, a two-mile train to 1/4 of a mile, and so on.
Overland transshipment now makes sense with the ability to move massive quantities of containers.
Rain or no rain, this year-round, predictable new method turns a costly problem into a no-brainer for container lines: drop off on the Pacific, and a new liner on the Caribbean picks up (and vice-versa).

Photo: PAN, Trevor Bundle (Above)

Photo: Possible rail spur/turnout and bundle tower site (Above)

Photo: Demonstrating this rail project will not interrupt canal traffic
(Above)Cost
50 miles of double track = 50 x $2,310,000 (low*) to $2,640,000 (high*)
Ballpark double track cost = $115,500,000 to $132,000,000
As can be seen below, strengthening a rail road track is also part of this patent.
The costs of adding steel, or creating a new rolling die at a steel plant with a
wider base flange are unknown. BidBird, however, has spared few details.

Photo: PAN, Trevor Strengthened Railroad Rail (Above)
An architectural / engineering study is required to determine how many turnouts are
needed to allow one train to continue while the opposing briefly steps aside. The
turnouts affect how many bundles would need to be welded/created. Also, local
authorities will need to weigh in.
This preliminary concept would likely run in the $250,000 to $500,000 range (quotes
from engineers will be needed). With this document, we can have a much more accurate
construction cost estimate. This estimate would be based on contractors licensed to
build in Panama.
There’s a bit of the unknown here; but, let’s say bundles are in the $25 million
range.
After this study, the investment bank can help estimate the operational costs needed
to service the bonds until the project begins to cash flow.
Below are several bundle concepts. One may board a BidBird Bundle Cargo Ship, and
traverse double tracks. The other is meant to be serviced by spreaders and gantry
cranes of existing port container terminals.
This option is attractive as rails will not likely be built up to gantry cranes; the
bundle having tires may traverse from the tracks over to and under existing gantry
cranes.
Mostly likely a combination of these will be used at Panama. Therein lies the
importance of the preliminary design study.

Photo: PAN, Trevor Bundle (Above)

Photo: PAN, Trevor Port Side Bundle Having Tires (Above)

Photo: PAN, Trevor Bundle Tower, Dry-Bulk Silo (Above)
Bond Repayment
Bonds will likely be repaid by the existing ports looking to transship the containers and other cargoes; there may also be cost sharing with the shipping lines. No matter the final arrangement, they’ll pay BidBird for the service of moving containers via land and not the canal itself.
Learn More
For additional insights into the economic impact of the Panama Canal and related infrastructure projects, explore the following resources:
- SYSTEM FOR CARGO TRANSPORT
- A system for cargo transport in the field of intermodal logistics aims to solve supply chain-related disruptions experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Other Uses
The Panama Canal is not the only place these inventions can be put to use. Thailand, Turkey, Egypt, Mexico and even Israel are possible contenders.* For more information on railroad engineering construction cost benchmarks from a few years passed, visit Compass International.