Monday, November 3, 2014

Oakland Port Has Busiest Traffic Month in a Year

By Mark Edward Nero

September 2014 was the busiest month at the Port of Oakland in more than a year, according to data released in late October.

The port, which is the third largest in California, said Oct. 23 that it handled 207,412 TEUs at its marine terminals last month, which was the most since August 2013, when 209,138 TEUs were moved.

Imports traversing the port’s marine terminals were up 7.1 percent in September to 72,284 TEUs compared to a year ago, with the port attributing the rise to the tail end of the peak shipping season in September and October, when retailers finalize holiday merchandise orders.

The port also said that although the total September cargo volume increased 2.87 percent from the same period in 2013, the number of full exports dipped 7.27 percent compared to 2013. Full exports have been weak at the port all year.

For the calendar year to date, Oakland’s terminals moved nearly 1.8 million containers during the nine months of 2014, a modest 1.6 percent jump over the same period last year, according to port data.

Also, unlike some other major seaports, the Port of Oakland reported no chassis shortages in September. A shortage of the skeleton trailers, which are used to haul containers on the road, has been reported at numerous other US West Coast ports, most significantly those in Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif.