C. PROVIDING INCENTIVES TO THE TRUCK LINES, SHIPLINES, RAIL LINES AND AIRLINES TO DO MORE OF THIS IS THE INDISPENSABLE KEY TO SUCCESS.

Some incentives to carriers (including overland carriers) to make this space available free or at lower than normal prices already exist, but more incentives need to be applied including the following:

1. Altruism on the part of the ownership of the carrier. (already exists).

2. The carrier’s desire to charge a lower price for spare space, a price which covers his cost, and at the same time gains his company “good will”. The government could publicize the participating ships in various ways, catalyzing this motivation.

3. Indirect suasion such as that which can be applied by a government shipper of goods (like USAID) that ordinarily awards highly lucrative contracts to a carrier. USAID can suggest that their awarding those contracts to individual carriers might be affected by the carrier’s willingness to engage in providing a certain number of lower priced, spare space shipments for humanitarian purposes in U.S. interests, such as countering terrorism, which includes the interests of the transportation sector itself which is particularly vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Terrorism raises insurance rates, diminishes shipping and travel. Ships, planes and other carriers are among the most vulnerable targets of terrorism. The carriers should feel gratitude toward the government that uses tax-payers’ money to help protect them, and partly subsidizes them.

4. The most needed incentive is to provide a sufficiently generous tax break for the donations of services, like loading and moving cargo, freight-forwarding, etc., paralleling the break given for donation of goods. Such a parallel tax break does not now exist in the shipping industry, but it is justifiable and can be passed.