A new program that speeds up cargo traffic by streamlining
container moves is expediting operations at the Port of Los Angeles, the port
says.
The “Peel Off” program, launched Feb. 25, has added a new
operational model to the port to clear the current backlog of containers and
improve the flow of cargo going forward.
The port created the program months ago with Pasha Stevedoring,
harbor trucking firm Total Transportation Services Inc. (TTSI), several marine
container terminal operators and a core group of major retailers. The program
involves "peeling off" containers of high-volume customers to a
near-dock yard where they are sorted for destination to inland distribution
centers.
Under “Peel Off,” import containers loaded with goods
belonging to high-volume shippers are stacked together in a block upon arrival
at the port. The terminals expedite TTSI trucks through their gates to retrieve
the containers and deliver them to the near-dock yard less than a mile away
where they’re sorted. The same trucks loop back to the terminals for the next
inbound container.
The trucks keep boxes moving by delivering outbound
containers on the return leg.
“The trucks are doing exactly what everyone needs them to do
– make more turns every day,” TTSI President and CEO Vic La Rosa said. “This
single step eliminates multiple inefficient moves so cargo flows faster and
more reliably.”
“We have found an efficient way to get containers to their
destination that is beginning to pay off,” Port of LA Executive Director Gene
Seroka said. “While the program is geared for high-volume shippers, all
customers benefit. Increasing terminal productivity has a positive ripple
effect for everyone moving cargo through our port.”
The “Peel Off” yard is located at Navy Way and Reeves Avenue
on port property, and is open from 7 am to 3 am six days a week. Currently, 17
acres are available for staging up to 500 containers. As demand grows, the
facility could operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week and accommodate up to
650 containers, according to the port.
“We’ve created something that’s going to work for years to
come,” Pasha Stevedoring Senior Vice President Jeff Burgin said. “We’re
prepared to expand this model throughout the harbor.”
