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The
free-flow programme helped reduce truck
turn-times about 30 per cent and queue-times
outside gates are averaging about 20 minutes,
compared to hours in late 2014, Slangerup
said as a December 8 at Journal of Commerce
conference in Islip, NJ.
Long
Beach port staff has proposed making the
150-acre Pier S, which is mostly vacant,
into a permanent overflow yard. The property
will be paved and go through an environmental
permit process before the port authority
solicits bids to operate the facility.
"The
terminals we have at the port were not designed
for 14,000-TEU ships. So these staging areas
become an important relief valve. But looking
ahead, it also helps us to move cargo more
efficiently, and that's why we want to expand
its scope," Mr Hacegaba said.
The
port authority's eventual goal is for the
rail mode to move 50 per cent of boxes in
and out of the terminals, he added.
The
twin ports endeavour to align the entire
maritime supply chain so there's better
communication and coordination in container
handoffs. The challenge, according to officials,
is consolidating the 13 marine terminals
and hundreds of motor carriers under a common
system.
What's
needed is a centralised data backbone, or
platform, where information about the location
of cargo at any point is visible to all
parties in the transaction.
Cargomatic,
an Uber-like, on-demand matching service
for urban trucking routes, is being tested
at the Port of Los Angeles' West Basin Container
Terminal with ocean carriers China Shipping
and Yang Ming, and could become the model
for a port-wide system, industry officials
say.
The
technology enables small shippers and truckers
to participate in free-flow by aggregating
demand and allowing the terminal to segregate
sections of containers for truckers using
the Cargomatic mobile app.
Drivers
pick up the first container off the pile
and transmit the container number (by photo
or keypad) to get their dispatch instructions.
A unique aspect of Cargomatic is that drivers
directly receive payments to their bank
account via their smartphone.
Cargomatic
also serves as an information middleman,
taking the vessel offloading schedule from
the terminal operator and sharing it with
cargo owners and motor carriers, who respond
back with the containers on the vessel they
want the terminal to set down in the free-flow
stack. Relying on a GPS platform and algorithmic
formulas, Cargomatic then notifies nearby
truckers and warehouses when the boxes are
available for pick up.
About
1,500 truck moves per day are currently
managed via Cargomatic, according to Mr
Seroka. Other technology platforms being
explored include Quick 180, a Virginia-based
company.
"The
supply chain had cracks in it dating back
to the fourth quarter of 2008, just when
the recession really hit, but we didn't
have a convening group" to bring together
all industry thought leaders, he said.
A
manifestation of how port authorities can
help connect the dots involves block stowage.
Organising containers in groups on the vessel
at origin by local truck, long-haul truck,
local rail and on-dock rail, or even shipper,
is desirable for quickly moving containers
to the right spot when offloaded at the
terminal.
But
the new alliance structure makes block stowage
much difficult because containers from multiple
carriers and multiple ports are loaded onto
a vessel operated by one alliance partner
before crossing the ocean to the United
States.
Block
stowage, however, would significantly improve
the efficiency of peel-off programmes, they
say. In late December, CMA CGM brought its
new 18,000-TEU Benjamin Franklin to Los
Angeles.
It
was the largest containership to ever visit
North America. The Port of Los Angeles'
commercial team was instrumental in working
with Pier 400 operator APM Terminals, the
French carrier and the ports of Shanghai,
Ningbo and Busan to design the block-stowage
arrangement and the subsequent process for
sharing the information.
Upon
vessel departure from Busan, the stowage
plan was shared with the port authority,
the marine terminal, truckers, railroads,
customs brokers, port police, coast guard,
customs and other parties 13 days before
arrival - compared to the normal 24 to 36
hours of notification, Mr Seroka said.
The
advance information enabled the terminal
to predict how many longshoremen to order
from the union hall. Knowing the sequence
of cargo discharge also allowed the railroads
and motor carriers to plan when to move
assets to the terminal, and how many drivers
would be needed, to collect containers.
"I
think that's looking at the future, right
there," Mr Seroka said. "We need
to do that with every ship that's coming
in. The data points are out there; we need
to harness them."
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