The efficiency of the Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex
and how that efficiency – or lack thereof -- effects its competitiveness were
the subject of a town hall-style meeting on the campus of California State
University Long Beach on May 15.
The meeting was the latest in a series of annual events
hosted by the university’s Center for International Trade &
Transportation. The theme: “Efficiency & Competiveness: Securing Cargo &
Jobs,” was chosen as the topic since it is one of the more pressing issues of
the day for the San Pedro Bay ports.
“What’s going to happen to the ports when we have 18,000 TEU
ships? The answer is that it depends. It depends on how well we can compete,”
Genevieve Giuliano, a professor and senior associate dean with the University
of Southern California said. “The task is to discuss how each of us as industry
stakeholders can improve our practices to contribute to a more efficient supply
chain.”
One of the major issues of the evening was the LA/Long Beach
ports’ market share. In years past, the San Pedro Bay ports combined were the
third-busiest port in the world regarding container volumes, but their ranking
has now fallen to fifth, behind surging ports in China and South Korea that
individually see significantly higher volumes than the combined 14 million TEUs
at LA and Long Beach.
Regarding the issue of how the ports can possibly regain
some of their lost global market share, members of the meeting’s five-member
panel said LA and Long Beach are poised for a comeback.
“Look, I know there’s a lot of concern and it’s a concern
for us too. We’ll have to see.” Mike Podue, president of International
Longshore & Warehouse Union Local 63, which represents marine clerks,
said. “Personally, I think the infrastructure of the San Pedro Bay ports
outshines any other port in the nation.”
Growth initiatives like BNSF’s proposed $500 million,
185-acre Southern California International Gateway (SCIG) intermodal rail yard and
Long Beach’s in-progress $1.2 billion Middle Harbor terminal redevelopment are
expected to help the ports remain competitive.
“People who are shipping cargo want a low cost and they want
consistent, reliable service at low cost. And at the end of the day, if we can
do that, we’ll get the cargo back,” Alan McCorkle, senior vice president of APM
Terminals Pacific said. “We’ve got to find a way to increase efficiency in an
effort to lower costs. If we do that consistently for a long period of time,
then we’ll get the cargo back.”
Another panelist, Jeff Coppersmith of Coppersmith Global
Logistics, said cost and efficiency were the two biggest issues for his
customers and that some of the ports’ practices and policies – such as the
PierPass program, an anti-pollution initiative that charges a per-container fee
during peak weekday hours, are causes of concern. He also said demurrage fees
and labor actions all play a part in his customers’ decisions whether or not to
go through LA/Long Beach.
“To make it more efficient to bring (cargo) into Los
Angeles, you have to bring it at night with a clean truck when you have your
own chassis,” Coppersmith said. “I agree with why we do it – I breathe the air
in Long Beach as well, so I don’t have a problem with that.
“But if it’s not an efficient port and it’s costing me too
much, I have to look somewhere else,” he said. “I can’t blame the customers for
doing that.”
