Supply Chain Productivity: Long Beach, Oakland

Taking aim at the bottleneck that has slowed cargo movement through the Port of Long Beach, its Board of Harbor Commissioners on Dec. 22 approved measures to relieve congestion, including a petition of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) for permission to work in concert with the neighboring Port of Los Angeles.

The commissioners authorized the release of a Request for Proposals for the creation of a "peak chassis pool," which would augment the supply of the chassis when they are most needed. A shortage of chassis has been a major factor in the congestion issues at the port complex this year.

The commissioners also gave preliminary approval to a cap of four days for dockage fees charged ships at berth. Due to delays in cargo movement, ships have needed to stay at berth longer and have had to pay higher fees. With the dockage relief, the port would forgo an estimated $150,000 in fees by allowing longer stays without charge during stays from Dec. 1, 2014, through March, 31, 2015.

The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners earlier this month agreed to seek FMC permission to work with Long Beach on congestion. The San Pedro Bay ports want to collaborate with industry partners on matters including rail operations, chassis supply and storage, vessel calls, truck turn times and marine terminal operations. The FMC could grant the ports immunity from anti-trust laws that would otherwise prohibit the two ports from collaborating.

"Separately, we’re all working on solutions," said Long Beach Port Chief Executive Jon Slangerup. "But these are systemic problems that can only be solved by bringing all the parties together and agreeing on long-term, integrated solutions throughout the supply chain."

Oakland Takes Added Measures to Handle Cargo Increase  

The Port of Oakland announced Dec. 22 it had taken additional steps in to manage a recent upsurge in container ship arrivals. The measures include:

• A Sunday gate opening at one of the port's largest marine terminals to discharge additional import cargo.
• An operational status update sent daily to hundreds of harbor truckers, ocean carriers and shippers to improve supply chain planning.

The added features are designed to improve cargo flow slowed by increased container volume and a multitude of delayed vessels arriving simultaneously. In just three days, 13 ships called in Oakland, most well behind schedule. Maritime officials say the number of ships in the San Francisco Bay exceeds anything seen in the past decade.

"We welcome increased cargo volume at Oakland and we've got to do a better job of managing the flow," said Port Maritime Director John Driscoll. "We're working every day with the marine terminals, truck drivers and shippers to pick up the pace."

Import cargo volume has increased at Oakland in each of the last three months from 2013 levels. The port ascribes the gains to "aggressive marketing as well as congestion at other ports which caused cargo diversions to Oakland."

The port says it can accommodate additional containers, but operations have been hampered by off-schedule ships and labor-management disputes on the docks. The result has been a slowdown in cargo movement and long lines of trucks waiting to enter terminals.

The port has responded with extended hours, night gates and dedicated lanes in terminals to expedite simple transactions. It is meeting regularly with harbor truckers to address their issues in hauling cargo. The daily status update will provide the latest information on vessel arrivals, terminal operations and truck queues outside terminal gates.

The Port of Oakland leases marine terminals to operating companies that manage the facilities. It said terminal operators plan to continue occasional night and weekend gates until cargo flows normalize. Cargo volume is expected to moderate soon now that the peak holiday shipping season has passed.

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