The billion-dollar project to deepen the shipping channels into the Port of Melbourne has stirred deep controversy.

A massive crane reaches down 25 stories, picks up a container filled with Asian goods, and sets it on a truck for delivery. This quay crane works day and night. But even running nonstop, the cranes can barely keep up with the growing volume of freight moving from Asian factories to American stores. Slow-moving, expensive cranes sit at the crux of an overloaded freight system.