A temporary storage container facility that opened at the
Port of Long Beach in December 2014 to help deal with an ongoing congestion
problem, won’t close at the end of March as originally planned. Instead, it
will stay open at least several more months, according to the port.
The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners this week
unanimously approved an extra six months of operation for the temporary
container storage facility on the port’s undeveloped Pier S terminal.
The action temporarily extends the life of the existing
30-acre storage depot and also allows for the storage of loaded cargo
containers and chassis in addition to the empty containers already permitted
there.
Pasha Stevedoring & Terminals will continue to operate
the storage depot, and the port says it will monitor traffic for any issues.
The temporary facility, which was approved during a period
of high congestion at the port, is designed to help put back into circulation
more chassis, the wheeled trailer-frames that trucks use to haul cargo containers.
Because many terminals are congested and have had little room to accept empty
cargo containers, more space was set aside to temporarily store those empties.
During its two-and-a-half months in operation, the empty
container facility has freed up chassis for truckers to reuse to pick up new loads on
the busy docks and speed up delivery.
Although congestion has eased in the past two weeks, the
port says terminals are still in need of additional space as they try to
eliminate a backlog of cargo that built up over the past several months.
Companies and individuals interested in using the depot must
first contact depot operator Pasha Stevedoring at (310) 233-2005 or LBECD@psterminals.com.
