Ports: Congestion in Southern California; October volume records in Georgia, Virginia

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners late last week approved a plan to use Port of Long Beach property as a temporary site for storing empty containers.
 
A temporary empty container depot will be operated on 30 vacant acres by Pasha Stevedoring and Terminals under a permit through March 31, 2015. The temporary depot will help free up equipment needed to move cargo out of terminals faster by placing more chassis back into circulation to correct a chassis supply imbalance, port officials said in a press release.

"Because many terminals are congested due to the current peak in cargo volume and have no room to accept empty cargo containers, more space is needed to temporarily store those empties," they said. "The temporary depot will provide a location for truckers to deliver empty containers and remove them from a chassis, and then use the chassis to pick up and haul loaded containers to their destination."

The depot is one of several measures the port is pursuing to relieve congestion caused by a cargo surge the past two months. The port has identified a plan to operate its own chassis fleet for peak shipping seasons and demand, and facilitated the introduction of private chassis fleets that brought an additional 3,000 chassis to the area.

A busy peak shipping season, the advent of larger ships and a change in the ownership system for chassis fleets has created congestion at many ports this year, Long Beach port officials said.

Although congestion issues likely affected volume in Long Beach last month, the port logged its busiest October since 2010 primarily because of a rise in imports, they said.

The port in October handled 583,009 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), up 1.1 percent year over year. Imports rose 4.1 percent to 310,482 TEUs, exports declined 14.9 percent to 120,445 TEUs and empty container volume climbed 11.2 percent to 152,082 TEUs.

"The peak season of August through October is generally the busiest time of year for the port, largely due to imports arriving for the holiday shopping season," port officials said. "Congestion issues that have hit all U.S. ports this year have likely pushed some of the peak season shipments into November."

The Port of Los Angeles also is dealing with congestion, which similarly impacted its October cargo volume.

A port team has developed a new chassis distribution model that's expected to be implemented Feb. 1, 2015. Port officials also are working with stakeholders on short- and long-term solutions to improve operational efficiencies and cargo velocity throughout the logistics chain, with information technology the central theme of the improvements.

"While increasing cargo volume is our objective, the congestion circumstances in recent months have caused delays for cargo owners that absolutely must and will be resolved," said Executive Director Gene Seroka in a press release. "We continue working with our customers and logistics partners to do everything possible to relieve the current situation and design solutions that will better enable the supply chain in the future."

The port's total volume in October increased 4.6 percent year over year to 715,682 TEUs. Imports rose 7.2 percent to 370,938 TEUs, exports fell  6.7 percent to 158,181 TEUs, total loaded imports and exports increased 2.6 percent to 529,119 TEUs and empties climbed 10.7 percent to 186,563 TEUs.

"U.S. exports have declined in 2014 due to weaker demand abroad and a stronger U.S. dollar, which makes U.S. goods more expensive," port officials said.

Meanwhile, the Georgia Ports Authority yesterday announced its terminals in Brunswick and Savannah set a cargo volume record of 2.79 million tons in October.

Savannah's Garden City Terminal handled a record 311,759 TEUs, up 13.6 percent year over year. The terminal also set high-water marks for the number of truck gate moves at 213,445 and containers moved via intermodal rail at 31,238. The Port of Savannah's on-terminal rail yards are served by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway.

In Norfolk, Va., the Port of Virginia also set an October volume record at 221,105 TEUs, a 7 percent year-over-year increase.

Rail volume increased 3.9 percent, truck volume rose 8.7 percent and barge container volume climbed 12.3 percent. The port previously exceeded the 200,000-TEU mark in April, May, July, August and September.

"October was the fourth-consecutive month of volume exceeding 200,000 units, so the volume growth is strong," said John Reinhart, chief executive officer and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority, in a press release. "These volumes present a challenge to our delivery of efficient service to the motor carriers and we are fully engaged in port-wide efforts to improve throughput for trucks."