More than 30 years ago, when I began writing about transportation and logistics, one of the first pieces that I did was about the imminent demise of the U.S. merchant marine. Today, I find myself addressing the same issue. As industries go, this has got to be one of the slowest deaths on record.

As Congress lurches toward yet another stopgap solution to the nation's transportation infrastructure crisis, it might be valuable to take a fresh look at some of the assumptions that are driving the issue.