LOS ANGELES – Longshoremen have slowed cargo movements at West Coast ports to such a degree that terminal operators fear the nation’s intermodal network will be overwhelmed by the volume of cargo unleashed when the ports return to normal.
Reports from individual terminals in Los Angeles-Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle, Tacoma and Portland indicate that on some shifts container moves per hour were 14% to 20% below normal levels. Most terminals have been operating at no better than 60% of normal productivity.
As a result, cargo is building up rapidly at West Coast ports. Terminal operators fear that when members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union return to their normal productivity of 28 to 30 container moves per hour, rail and truck carriers will not be able to handle the deluge of cargo.
Terminal operators on the West Coast are especially concerned because ocean carriers are projecting that August will be a blockbuster month in the trans-Pacific import trades. When a surge of new cargo is mixed with containers that should have moved in July, truckers and rail carriers may simply not have enough equipment to handle the volume.
“If August turns out to be a big month, the problem will really bubble,” said Greg Stefflre, a Long Beach attorney and trucking company executive.
Furthermore, international freight will also have to compete with domestic freight for intermodal equipment. Stefflre said domestic volumes on the West Coast have been unusually strong this summer, and the peak season for domestic shipments is still a month or two away.
West Coast longshoremen have been working without a contact since July 1. ILWU locals up and down the coast have been engaging in go-slow tactics – reporting late to their jobs, refusing to work extended hours, halting operations during meal hours and claiming health and safety violations at marine terminals.
Capacity constraints in the rail and trucking industries are already beginning to show. A large terminal at the Port of Los Angeles this week was unable to get enough locomotives and double-stack rail cars from the Union Pacific Railroad.
UP confirmed that it has had “sporadic” problems in supplying intermodal equipment in Southern California, but that was due more to the continuing imbalance in imports vs. exports than to the labor situation at the ports, said UP spokesman Mark Davis.
“Two days ago it was bad, but today it was OK,” Davis said. Generally, though, the velocity of train movements on the UP system has been good, so any problems have been temporary in nature, he said.
The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway, the other large rail carrier in the West, said there have been no problems with availability of intermodal equipment. The BNSF has experienced delays of up to 24 hours in Los Angeles-Long Beach, but those have been due to labor problems at the marine terminals rather than operational problems on the railroad, said David Longsworth, manager of marketing communications.
Both Western railroads said they anticipate a busy peak season and they are prepared for the crush of cargo. “The big thing will be maintaining day-to-day communication between the ports and the railroads. If we have that, we can handle the volume,” Davis said.
Harbor trucking companies that move containers to intermodal rail transfer yards and to local receiving warehouses, meanwhile, are growing increasingly concerned about a shortage of drivers. Most drivers are owner-operators who must make three or four round trips a day to earn a profit. Lines have grown so long – the truck line at one terminal in Los Angeles stretched for two and one-half miles Tuesday – that drivers are getting only one or two turns a day.
Some drivers are leaving the harbor and looking elsewhere for work, and this is exacerbating an already critical driver shortage, trucking executives said. “It’s extremely frustrating for drivers. They shouldn’t have to work 12-hour days and weekends to make a living,” said Patty Senecal, vice president of sales at Transport Express, a harbor drayage company in Southern California.
West Coast port executives said that although the intermodal situation is difficult, cargo continues to move to the Eastern half of the country. Shipments may be arriving late, but they are making it to their destinations.
“It is obviously a concern, but I believe the infrastructure is in place to handle the cargo volume,” said Don Wylie, managing director of maritime services at the Port of Long Beach.
