Anacostia: Short-haul shuttle trains could divert 1M trucks on LA expressway

Anacostia Rail Holdings (ARH) has released two new reports examining the feasibility and benefits of rail service operating to an inland port for containers destined within 150 miles of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The reports estimate that some 3.1 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) — about a third of imports coming into the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — could be addressable by a rail shuttle-inland port in the Inland Empire.

If cross docks (for transloading and onward movement of domestic containers by rail and truck) relocate to the vicinity of the inland port, up to 1.5 million more TEUs might be possible. At full share shift, this could eliminate about 5,100 short-haul truck moves (drayage) from the LA/LB ports every weekday, ARH officials said in a news release.

On behalf of its subsidiary Pacific Harbor Line, which serves as the neutral rail-switching operator for the two ports, ARH commissioned the studies to examine how short-haul intermodal operations can help address logistical and environmental issues commonly associated with containerized freight movement.

The reports also analyze several scenarios comparing inland transportation costs per container for direct truck drayage from the ports with the rail shuttle-inland port concept. A rail shuttle-inland port could be cost-competitive on a per container basis for all of the scenarios analyzed — as long as the inland port is either integrated with or located near freight logistics and warehousing facilities.