|
LONGSHOREMEN
in California ports and freight handlers
at logistics operations everywhere are in
the midst of a global shift in way the trade
industry does business and in which megaships
are demanding ports become automated.
Technological
advancements in cargo handling stand to
greatly benefit the local ports by increasing
efficiency and improving competitiveness
while also helping US west coast ports to
repair what some in the industry see as
a bruised reputation from work stoppages,
writes Samantha Mehlinger in the Long Beach
Business Journal.
Labour
unions, although cautious about how technology
will impact the workforce, also realise
that technological changes, such as automation
- which will likely reduce manual labour
jobs but also create new technology-based
higher paying jobs - are inevitable, according
to industry experts.
"Technological
advances and automation are not an option
or a choice; they're a requirement,"
said Peter Friedmann, executive director
of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition
(AgTC), the largest national trade organisation
for agriculture and forest product exporters.
Technological
advances are already becoming apparent at
the Port of Long Beach's Middle Harbour
terminal, which is set to be the most automated,
efficient and greenest terminal in the United
States, and at the TraPac terminal in the
Port of Los Angeles.
The
first phase of the US$1.3 billion Middle
Harbour project, which involves consolidating
two terminals into one for Orient Overseas
Container Line's (OOCL) Long Beach Container
Terminal (LBCT), has been completed.
After
testing new equipment and systems, the terminal
is preparing to open around April of next
year.
Mr
Friedmann said members of AgTC, which is
holding its annual meeting in Long Beach
next year, recently visited the International
Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) leadership
at the Middle Harbour terminal to see how
union dockers are being incorporated into
new jobs that technology is creating.
He
said the highly advanced terminal shows
how the Port of Long Beach is progressing
technologically
along with the union's "cooperation
and engagement" faster and more effectively
than any other port in the United States.
Although
the new jobs may be more mechanical or technology
based, such as gate operating, the longer-term
benefit is that technological advances will
help keep cargo moving through west coast
ports rather than through US Gulf, east
coast and Canadian ports as has recently
been the case because of work stoppages
caused by labour disputes.
"If
changes aren't made, the trend of cargo
moving to other ports will only "accelerate.
Labour as well as the port authorities understand
that there is a major shift in global cargo
flow taking place right now," Mr Friedmann
said, adding that the US government's new
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal if
ratified would only encourage more cargo
to be diverted from west coast ports if
technological advances aren't made.
US
west coast ports have benefited from having
naturally deep harbours that enable larger
ships to dock. However, up to six other
ports on the east coast are working to deepen
their harbours while the Panama Canal has
already been widened for larger ships to
pass through.
Goods
for US consumers are no longer coming just
from China but also from Vietnam and India,
which are closer to the Suez Canal. In addition,
two thirds of US consumers live on the eastern
one third of the country.
"Automation
or any other advantage that the west coast
can bring to bear is essential," he
said.
With
regard to exports, technological advancements
are also critical. Farmers and forest product
producers in California may lose the global
marketplace if local ports don't become
more efficient since such goods can't be
exported through any other ports.
Page 1 2
[Next]
|
