As of Saturday, Oct. 9, all 13 marine container terminals at the ports will have reinstated a fifth OffPeak gate shift, up from 11 terminals in September, responding to the rebound in cargo volumes this year.

When cargo volumes plunged in 2008 and 2009, terminal operators suffered deep losses and were forced to reduce costs by cutting one OffPeak shift and other types of service. With the increase in cargo in 2010, the terminals have been reinstating services. In addition to the fifth OffPeak shift, terminals have added back the noon hour relief and flex gates.

Marine terminal operators (MTOs) continue to adjust their hours and staffing as market conditions change. Lines of trucks waiting to enter the terminals have eased in the last couple months, as the terminals added back labor and additional shifts, while the strong cargo growth seen earlier in 2010 has flattened.

APM Terminals has said it is preparing to begin using an appointment system on Oct. 19. Meanwhile, four other terminals that had been working to set up appointment systems have put the rollouts on hold, based on the recent improvement in wait times and the flattening out of cargo volume growth.

Trucking companies have been less than enthusiastic about the appointment systems under discussion. In a June survey of 500 trucking companies, only 24 percent of respondents indicated they have found appointments to be helpful (three terminals had existing appointment systems). Terminal operators will continue to review the benefits of appointment systems within the contexts of their individual terminals.

The terminals have also modified their plans for handling ILWU Stop Work meetings. The terminals in August announced that when a Thursday OffPeak gate is closed for ILWU Stop Work meetings, the MTOs will add an extra Friday OffPeak gate the following day. Last week, nine of the 13 terminals said they had suspended the plan, after determining that the cargo volume during that shift wouldn’t justify the cost. The remaining four (PCT, C60, WBCT, EMS) will move forward with adding the extra Friday OffPeak gate.

The year’s fifth Stop Work meeting – possibly the last one for 2010 – will be this Thursday night, Oct. 7.

Overall feedback from our working group was that the measures taken by marine terminal operators to combat congestion and gridlock at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are working – a positive step forward for everyone.

Twelve of the 13 terminal operators have added back a fifth OffPeak gate, and most terminals have also reinstituted flex gates, where they remain open during lunch hours and breaks rather than shut down and start back up again.

However, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. At the top of the list of priorities for the working group? Agreeing on how to measure turn times and identifying ways to improve them.

Without industry agreement on what constitutes turn times at port terminals and how long the process should take, it will be difficult to establish long-term practices to address issues of congestion and wait time.

Now with many terminals investing in computerized and automated systems, it becomes easier to produce data on how long each truck is inside the terminal. However, we still need to work together to identify potential solutions to wait times outside the terminal gates to paint an overall picture on how to reduce overall wait time for the trucking community.

Consider this example from the Cunningham Report:
“Members of the group have suggested that one way to measure the queue would be to pick a distance from the gate that seems to be a fair measure for that terminal, then measure how much time is spent in that queue. If, for instance, that queue is a quarter of a mile long, and there were no trucks in the queue, then the waiting time for a truck moving at 30 miles an hour would be recorded at about 30 seconds.”

We’re encouraged by the progress of these working group meetings and are committed to keeping Southern California moving. Stay tuned for more working group updates.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vljx20x89GA&fs=1&hl=en_US]
The MTOs at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have been taking measures to manage gate congestion as a result of increased cargo volumes. Watch what’s being done to improve efficiency and ensure cargo flows smoothly.

The second working group meeting took place this past Monday. The conversation was lively, thoughtful and productive.

I’ve asked Joshua Owen, president of Ability-TriModal, a trucking, warehousing and distribution company, to co-chair the working group with me. Ability-TriModal has served Southern California for more than six decades, and Joshua brings deep knowledge and experience in the industry.

Through our discussions, we’ve realized there are a number of differences and similarities among the stakeholders. Most crucial to reducing truck congestion is the fact that we each define the issue differently and we each have different tracking and reporting methods (click here to see how PierPASS reports transaction data). So we created a sub-committee to address terminology across all stakeholders and to look at the possibility of combining data from GPS and RFID technologies to enhance reporting on trucker wait times outside of the terminal gates.

But there are several things we all agree on. No. 1 on the list is our commitment to improving efficiency. Each member of the working group has expressed their continued support to ensuring cargo flows efficiently through the ports. The MTOs recently announced they are adding back a fifth OffPeak gate at 11 of 13 marine terminal gates and the reinstatement of the noon hour relief and early start of night shifts.

I am encouraged by the support offered by each of the stakeholders and am confidant that together we will keep Southern California moving. Stay tuned for more working group updates.

Responding to a surge in volume and industry feedback, 11 of 13 terminals will have reinstated five gates per week by September 8. The fifth shift will be rolled out over the next several weeks. Click here to see the updated schedule.

When the terminal operators were forced to cut one OffPeak shift in 2009 due to a drop in cargo, they did so expecting they would add back the shift once volumes returned. Since the beginning of the year, we have seen cargo start to bounce back. In July, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach reported a 26.8 percent and 35.8 percent increase in volume, respectively, compared to the same month in 2009.

The terminal operators understand the industry’s need for five gates per week. PierPASS actively participates in industry discussions – through the working group formed by PierPASS to address congestion issues, our PierPASS Advisory Committee, and meetings with associations, harbor commissioners, port authorities, and more – to listen to feedback from all our stakeholders and gather a variety of perspectives.

We also heard – and responded to – feedback on adding back shifts that start earlier and keeping the gates open at lunch. In fact, 85 percent of terminals now work the gates through the lunch hour and start the night shift at 5 p.m. to keep cargo and traffic flowing. Since the beginning of the year, terminal operators have added 37 percent more labor.

Terminal operators have also committed to adding an extra Friday OffPeak shift when a Thursday OffPeak gate if closed for ILWU Stop Work meetings. So far this year, there have been four Stop Work meetings.

See the video on the PierPASS YouTube channel for more information on proactive measures terminal operators have taken to reduce traffic congestion and increase the efficient flow of cargo.

The latest transaction data from marine terminal operators (MTOs) at the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach shows that nearly half of trucks conducted at least four transactions (pickups or deliveries of containers) per day in late July, while almost two-thirds of trucks made three or more transactions per day.

In an effort to achieve more efficient cargo movement, PierPASS has developed a video addressing gate congestion and discussing potential solutions. The video is available on the PierPASS YouTube channel.

“The analysis of transaction data shows that the ports are vastly underutilized despite increased cargo volume and truck traffic,” said Bruce Wargo, president and CEO of PierPASS. “PierPASS and the MTOs are working together to improve the efficiency of cargo movement through the ports, ease the challenges of increased cargo volume and help the industry take advantage of unused capacity to minimize congestion.”

The analysis, which includes transaction data from July 26, 2010 to August 1, 2010, shows that:
• 5,326 trucks (63.4 percent) made at least 15 transactions, or about three per day.
• Of that group, 3,849 trucks (45.8 percent) conducted at least 20 terminal transactions, or about four per day.
• 48 trucks managed to make more than 50 pickups or deliveries in that week, or about 10 per day.

The analysis includes transaction data from the 13 container terminals serving the San Pedro Bay ports.

Number of Transactions per Week

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vM1xdwy39U]

Following a plunge in cargo volumes in 2008 and 2009, volumes have strongly rebounded at the two ports, leading to an increase in truck traffic. In response to this surge, the marine terminal operators have reinstated labor, gates and shifts cut during the recession. Terminal operators have increased labor levels by 37 percent since January 2010.

Lines outside the terminals are long primarily around 6 p.m. During much of the day and night shifts, there is little or no congestion at the terminals. Truckers can avoid lines by arriving from 9 a.m. to noon, 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and 11 p.m. to 3 a.m.

We’ve been watching gate capacity and developed this video to help explain the situation and urge motor carriers to take advantage of unused capacity to minimize congestion.

In response to the recent surge in truck volumes, some in the industry have expressed concern about wait times at the terminals gates. Marine terminal operators are diligently working with industry stakeholders to identify solutions. It is imperative that the trucking industry contribute by taking advantage of under-congested and under-utilized times at the gates. By spreading out volume and utilizing our existing infrastructure, trucking companies will improve the efficiency of their businesses.

Stay tuned to the PierPASS YouTube channel for more information.