Monday Daily Plenary Session 4

Thank you, Dave for this very nice introduction. I am really honored to be part today of the opening plenary session at this 17th PATRAM symposium here in San Francisco. For many reasons, but the most important one is to be part of this today important transport community gathering. And great thanks to the PATRAM organizers. Thank you, Ken. Before approaching transport with you I would like first to pay tribute to our friend, Michelle …stein, who has suddenly passed away earlier this month when he was on vacation with his family in the French Provence. Michelle had been involved in the PATRAM organization for a very long time and committed to the PATRAM success for many years from the early 90s. Michelle had been for a long time and was still involved in the WNTI life first as an advisory committee member then as a board director for several years and until recently as a WNTI consultant. Supporting WNTI in the PATRAM preparation he had co-signed a few weeks ago a paper for this symposium. Michelle had retired from TN International on the first of July this year after more than 20 years dedicated to the excellence of the transport industry. We will greatly miss him and at this moment our thoughts are for his wife and his children.