The June 25/July 1 Puget Sound Business Journal carried an article (not apparently posted online, alas) that implies how the Ports of Portland and Vancouver can seize an advantage in the race for shipping business. The Washington Public Ports Association commissioned a study of freight rail capacity (available online here in PDF, and summarized here in PDF). The study says that for the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma to be able to handle the projected increase in container traffic over the next 20 years, the rail system will need at least $830 million in upgrades, and the railroads aren't likely to pay for it. That (says the article's author, Greg Lamm) "could put the state's ports at a competitive disadvantage to Vancouver, B.C., and other container ports in Southern California.
Why aren't Seattle and Tacoma worried about being at a competitive disadvantage to the Ports of Portland and Vancouver? We're not a major shipping destination but we do have rail access to the east and there's room west (downstream) of the Interstate Bridges in several locations to build more ship-to-rail container facilities. Let's make upgrading the freight rail system a priority.