Source: Lloyd’s Loading List
Date: 3rd December 2021
ACTIONS taken to improve operations at leading US ports will ensure retail shelves across the country will be full for the coming holiday period.
“The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have moved 16% more containers so far this year than last year.”
Loaded containers sitting on docks are down 40%, which means “they’re heading to shelves in stores more quickly”.
Administration’s effort to bring labour and management to “step up and co-operate more” and move to operate 24/7.
Terminal operators at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will eliminate fees when truck drivers come into the port to collect containers if they do so at night or on weekends when roads are less congested.
The Federal Maritime Commission will grant a temporary revision to the PierPass programme, allowing off-peak users of marine terminal gates at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to be exempted from paying the Traffic Mitigation Fee. The exemption, which came into force on December 1, will run until the end of January 2022.
Secretary of Labor said the administration continues to confront supply chain disruptions “head-on and, as a result, idle containers at ports are down more than 30% and shipping prices are down 25%”.
Secretary of Labor said the International Longshore & Warehouse Union, which represents dockworkers at US west coast ports, had “come through in a big way over the past few weeks” for the US public.
Dockworkers “take great pride in the work we do, the progress made, and in being part of the solution to alleviating the backlog of vessels in our ports”, ILWU Coast committeeman told Lloyd’s List.
“For the past several months we’ve been moving record breaking volumes of cargo and we will continue to do so until every container is unloaded.”
Port of Long Beach executive director said the San Pedro Bay complex is on track to see record-breaking throughput of 20m teu in 2021.
It’s going to be the “new normal” in terms of the number of containers that will be passing through the port complex, Port of Long Beach executive director said in a televised interview. “That 20m number is not going to get reduced even after the crisis.”
The supply chain crisis has clearly led to “vibrant and robust” discussion of the issues, and “given an opportunity for us to think outside the box and look at these extended gate hours,” Port of Long Beach executive director said.
FMC commissioner said the temporary amendment to the PierPass programme will not do much to promote 24/7 operations.
“For a 24/7 or off-peak gate hours programme to be successful, it means that all supply chain partners need to be rowing in the same direction,” Port of Long Beach executive director said.
The temporary amendment will not go “far enough to truly maximise” the potential usage of continual terminal operations.
Director of strategy for Cargomatic, an e-platform that links shippers and truckers, said changes to PierPass were not the main solution.
“To go 24/7, the hours of service reset rule of 34 hours needs to be exempt for carriers calling on the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach,” Director of strategy for Cargomatic said.
Under current Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations, a trucker is not allowed to drive after 60/70 hours on duty in seven to eight consecutive days. A driver may restart a seven-to-eight consecutive day period only after taking 34 or more consecutive hours off duty.