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NORTH AMERICA: WEST COAST PORT DEVELOPMENT
Congestion overcome...challenges ahead
The congestion suffered by NAWC
ports last year may have been a
blessing in disguise as it spurred
changes that have kept cargo moving this
year, with few ports reporting traffic
build-up, other than Vancouver BC,
caught up in a truck strike through late
summer. By mid-year USWC ports were
handling 11 per cent more cargo than in
the same period last year - a trend that
has continued into early autumn.
More labour has been the biggest help,
with longshore gangs strengthened at
major California gateways and in Puget
Sound. Railroads have also pushed their
crew hiring forward and added more
motive power and rolling stock.
In addition, off-peak traffic under
Southern California’s PierPass programme
begun in late July has surpassed expectations.
In each of the first four nights of
the more than 7500 containers entered
or left Long Beach/Los Angeles marine
terminals following normal closing hours,
or almost 30 per cent of a typical day’s
gate volume of 26,000 containers.
The programme’s organisers originally
set 30 per cent as a goal to be reached
after two years running. To support the
extra crews needed to operate five new
evening shifts per week (Monday through
Thursday between 18.00 and 03.00 and
Saturday from 08.00 to 18.00), a traffic
mitigation fee of US$40/TEU is levied
on containers moved through the two
ports during peak hours, Monday-Friday.
RFID at GGS
Shipping lines have also been hunting for
ways to keep traffic moving. APL introduced
active radio frequency identification
(RFID) technology at its Global
Gateway South (GGS) at Los Angeles the
same day that PierPass was launched. By
using real-time locating technology APL
feels it will be able to reduce by as much
as half a day or more the time it takes to
track a container in the wheeled yard and
prepare it for transport.
RFID tags have been fitted to each
chassis, transmitting location signals to
computerised tracking equipment. Because
nearly all containers at the GGS
facility are on chassis, they can be spotted
electronically and positioned for movement
by truck, rail or ship. The technology
has been available for years but, according
to APL, the application represents
its first-ever use at a USWC wheeled terminal
and marks a milestone in its relationship
with the ILWU.
An agreement signed with the union
in 2002 established guidelines for the
implementation of waterfront automation
and the use of RFID is seen as one of the
first beneficial results. APL worked with
the ILWU as well as with system designer,
WhereNet Corporation, to develop and
implement the technology.
Scarce land
Implementation of technology such as
RFID and the spreading of truck gate
operations over more hours of the day
represent some of the areas of production
enhancement left to major NAWC
ports as land becomes scarce. In a stark
shift from the last two decades there is
only one new container terminal being
built on the whole NAWC range, at
Prince Rupert in northern BC, Canada.
Three others remain on the drawing
board: a new terminal at BC’s Roberts
Bank requiring additional landfill; a potential
terminal on Tacoma’s Blair Waterway
using land under the control of a
native American indian tribe; and Long
Beach’s planned 160-acre Pier S complex,
which still awaits the filing of an environmental
impact report (EIR).
The lack of new construction has
showed up in Long Beach’s 2006 budget,
which is US$40 mill less than the current
year, primarily due to reductions in
capital outlays. On the other hand,
US$100 milll has been set aside for environmental
programmes, marking a continuing
trend at US ports where noise and
air pollution control are at the forefront.
This is expected to see ongoing development
of shore-to-ship electrical
power (“cold ironing”) as well as increased
use of intermodal rail and more alternative-fuel
cargo handling vehicles. Money
is also to be invested in dust control and
diesel emissions reduction equipment as
well as improving road access through
building new multi-level interchanges.
Despite a lack of new construction,
Long Beach is continuing third-phase
completion of its Pier T container terminal,
used by Hanjin, and carrying out
improvements at Piers D, E and F, while
container terminals on Pier A and G are
slated for renovation. The port witnessed
New ZPMC cranes being moved ashore from
ZHEN HUA 1 at Cosco’s Long Beach terminal,
operated for the port by SSA Marine
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a 24 per cent increase in its container traffic
through the first half of the year and
expects numbers to continue climbing.
LA pays for delays
Contrasting Long Beach’s growth expectations,
but matching its budget cuts, the
Port of Los Angeles is not looking for
another TEU record this year. After predicting
a six per cent growth rate in January
it is now estimating that traffic will
remain steady at about 7.3 mill TEU or
roughly the same as last year.
Its operating and capital budget, however,
has been lowered by 10 per cent to
US$418.7 mill, with port priorities now
earmarked as “security, environment and
community development.”
Only two terminals are seeing signs
of construction work, the China Ship-
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