|
With
the Panama threat, California ports are
focused on becoming models of efficiency
THE
LA-Long Beach port complex faces the prospect
of decline with the opening of an expanded
Panama Canal this year. This will allow
vessels triple the current size to transit
the waterway with cargo between northeast
Asia and the east coast of the United States.
California
port officials realise the magnitude of
any potential shift in container trade depends
on whether they restore shipper confidence
so shattered by last year's go-slows by
dockers on the US west coast during contract
talks.
The
twin ports have rebounded from the depths
of the 2014-15 congestion crisis, writes
Eric Kulisch in American Shipper. At the
beginning of last year, Los Angeles and
Long Beach suffered throughput declines
between 20 per cent and 23 per cent, with
container dwell-times of 2.5 to 3.5 days.
By
mid-year volume at both facilities had largely
leveled off, although Los Angeles has lagged
behind Long Beach. In August, Long Beach
topped the 700,000-TEU plateau for the first
time in its 104-year history.
To
clear congestion a regional gray chassis
pool was created to speed up equipment interchange,
"free-flow" programmes for expedited
cargo pick up by trucks.
About
half the growth, said Long Beach commercial
officer Noel Hacegabais was from cargo captured
from other markets, and the remainder is
evenly split between organic growth and
shippers returning to southern California
after finding temporary alternatives.
But
ports in Canada, Mexico and across the country
are competing for more discretionary cargo
that originates in Asia. Up to 10 per cent
of Far East container traffic to the US
- or more than five million TEU - could
shift from west coast ports to east coast
ports by 2020 as a result of the expanded
Panama Canal, according to Boston Consulting
Group (BCG).
Even
without an expanded canal east coast ports
are increasing their share of Far East volume
from 35 per cent to 40 per cent - a trend
that started in 2002 when a labour lockout
shut down west coast ports for 10 days.
Exports
are also likely to drive east coast port
growth, said Hamburg Sud North America vice
president Michael Wilson. "You'll likely
see a larger share of export cargo east
of the Mississippi move east," he said.
BCG
estimated that LA-Long Beach will experience
growth at an average rate of five to 10
per cent per year through 2020, compared
with double-digit growth rates at some east
coast ports.
Repurposing
land, reforming operational process and
using technology to aid real-time decision-making
are key ways the San Pedro Bay port community
is changing.
Historically,
Los Angeles and Long Beach landlord ports,
did not get involved in trying to solve
market-based challenges. But that mindset
changed in the summer of 2014 when Port
of LA port executive director Gene Seroka
and Jon Slangerup, both businessmen (Mr
Seroka was a top executive at liner carrier
APL; Mr Slangerup headed FedEx Canada and
held other venture capital jobs), were hired
by city governments to run the ports of
Los Angeles and Long Beach.
"Gene
and I recognised early that it wasn't acceptable
to be merely a landlord port anymore. We
are beginning to rethink how our role can
be leveraged to facilitate change because
we're competing against these very capable
and competent operating ports around the
country who have been focussed on taking
as much volume as possible through the Panama
Canal - and have to deal with changing trade
patterns," Mr Slangerup said.
Port
officials and users credit new "free-flow"
programmes for helping to reduce backup
at marine terminals and are looking to expand
them to further increase container fluidity.
The
idea is to segregate containers in large
blocks for high volume destinations so trucks
can pull into a transfer lane without specific
assignments and simply take the first box
off the top of a stack.
The
system works best with large shippers -
think Target, Nike or Macy's - with large
numbers of containers that can be segregated.
The
Port of Long Beach last spring set up a
30-acre, temporary depot on a vacant lot
at Pier S to function as a staging area
for shuttle trucks participating in "peel-off"
programmes.
Other
truckers then hooked up to the chassis and
delivered the containers to distribution
centres within a 50-mile radius. The system
allowed truckers to make several round trips
per day and make more money.
The
Port of Los Angeles established a similar
facility outside its gates where containers
can be staged for drayage runs.
Page 1 2
[Next]
|
