After a nearly 15-month wait and at least one failed round of candidates, the Port of Bellingham has selected a new top executive.
The port commission on Tuesday selected Charles Sheldon, a 20-year veteran of the Port of Seattle, to be the port's new executive director. The 63-year-old Sheldon is currently serving as a special projects coordinator for the Seattle port's executive team.
Bellingham commissioners praised Sheldon's long track record with Seattle and his experience with large development projects such as the third runway project at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Sheldon, who beat out two other finalists, will reportedly be paid in the middle of the advertised range for the position of $125,000 to $135,000.
Earlier this year, the port announced five finalists for the executive director position after whittling down a pool of more than 110 applicants. Shortly before a round of public meetings to introduce the candidates, two of the five finalists removed their names from contention. Port officials then decided they wanted additional candidates beyond the three remaining finalists. Although the three individuals were asked to keep their names in contention, each withdrew his name shortly after the port decision to expand the candidate pool.
Sheldon was part of a second pool of three candidates pulled from the original applicant pool.
Port Facilities Director Fred Seeger has served as the port's interim executive director since the resignation of former port top executive Jim Darling in June 2009.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
FIDLEY WATCH - Sending Business East
Chris Philips, Managing Editor
Recently National Public Radio reported on the work being done by East Coast ports to accommodate the flood of larger container ships that will be sailing through the new Panama Canal locks. The Port of Virginia, in Norfolk, is already deep enough to take the large ships. Virginia’s unemployment rate has hovered around 7 percent for the last year, more than two points below the national average.
NPR notes that Robert Morris, Senior Director of External Affairs for the Georgia Ports Authority says the Port of Savannah spent $40 million and more than a decade on environmental impact studies to dredge the Savannah River. Mr. Morris says, “…the completion of the Panama Canal is really the biggest game changer in the maritime business for the East Coast since the invention of the container, and East Coast ports are getting ready for that.”
Georgia’s unemployment has fluctuated between 10.2 and 10.8.
When the dredging is done, Morris says, Savannah will be uniquely positioned to unload and ship cargo to the Gulf States and Midwest. The Port of Virginia will be ready to supply Chicago and other heartland cities after its own massive project, enlarging 28 railroad tunnels for double-stacked trains.
Meanwhile, West Coast ports or their governing bodies continue to discourage business. Last month at the port of Los Angeles (California’s unemployment figures hit 13.2 percent in January and were rising past 12.2 percent at press time), governing board approved new trucking regulations that will phase out independent owner-operator drayage drivers by the end of 2013 in lieu of per-hour employee drivers. The regulations, supported by the Teamsters, are expected to make it easier for the union to organize what until now have been independent drivers.
The new employee-only mandate could affect more than 6,000 port-servicing drivers that are currently independent owner-operators. Portions of the truck plan implemented since 2008 resulted in more than 10,000 drivers leaving the port drayage service and the shuttering of hundreds of local mostly small trucking firms.
The result will most likely be higher drayage rates for vessels calling at Los Angeles.
The new three-year phase-in schedule approved Monday calls for 20 percent of all gate calls at the port to be handled by employee drivers by the end of 2011, 66 percent by the end of 2012 and 100 percent by the end of 2013, just in time for the opening of the new Panama locks. The Mayor of Oakland, Ron Dellums, is working with organized labor on a similar plan.
While the Port of Long Beach plan doesn’t contain the employee mandate, the port has its own problems. In November, Long Beach voters will decide on Proposition D, an amendment to the City Charter designed to give City Hall a bigger share of Port of Long Beach revenues. The two-part measure would change the formula for fund transfers from the port to a trust that pays for harbor improvements and change the language in the city charter to clarify the city’s jurisdiction over oil properties at the port.
The result would be a loss of port revenue estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars over a ten-year period- money that would be used develop infrastructure and provide port services, at a time when competition from other ports continues to grow (see page 6, for a story about new container service between Asia and the Port of Manzanillo, Mexico).
While East Coast ports are preparing to welcome Asian cargo, the West Coast seems to be inviting it to leave. Do the mayors and city councils of the West Coast port cities understand the consequences of their actions, or will they blame other factors when carriers start bypassing unwelcoming West Coast ports for greener pastures?
Recently National Public Radio reported on the work being done by East Coast ports to accommodate the flood of larger container ships that will be sailing through the new Panama Canal locks. The Port of Virginia, in Norfolk, is already deep enough to take the large ships. Virginia’s unemployment rate has hovered around 7 percent for the last year, more than two points below the national average.
NPR notes that Robert Morris, Senior Director of External Affairs for the Georgia Ports Authority says the Port of Savannah spent $40 million and more than a decade on environmental impact studies to dredge the Savannah River. Mr. Morris says, “…the completion of the Panama Canal is really the biggest game changer in the maritime business for the East Coast since the invention of the container, and East Coast ports are getting ready for that.”
Georgia’s unemployment has fluctuated between 10.2 and 10.8.
When the dredging is done, Morris says, Savannah will be uniquely positioned to unload and ship cargo to the Gulf States and Midwest. The Port of Virginia will be ready to supply Chicago and other heartland cities after its own massive project, enlarging 28 railroad tunnels for double-stacked trains.
Meanwhile, West Coast ports or their governing bodies continue to discourage business. Last month at the port of Los Angeles (California’s unemployment figures hit 13.2 percent in January and were rising past 12.2 percent at press time), governing board approved new trucking regulations that will phase out independent owner-operator drayage drivers by the end of 2013 in lieu of per-hour employee drivers. The regulations, supported by the Teamsters, are expected to make it easier for the union to organize what until now have been independent drivers.
The new employee-only mandate could affect more than 6,000 port-servicing drivers that are currently independent owner-operators. Portions of the truck plan implemented since 2008 resulted in more than 10,000 drivers leaving the port drayage service and the shuttering of hundreds of local mostly small trucking firms.
The result will most likely be higher drayage rates for vessels calling at Los Angeles.
The new three-year phase-in schedule approved Monday calls for 20 percent of all gate calls at the port to be handled by employee drivers by the end of 2011, 66 percent by the end of 2012 and 100 percent by the end of 2013, just in time for the opening of the new Panama locks. The Mayor of Oakland, Ron Dellums, is working with organized labor on a similar plan.
While the Port of Long Beach plan doesn’t contain the employee mandate, the port has its own problems. In November, Long Beach voters will decide on Proposition D, an amendment to the City Charter designed to give City Hall a bigger share of Port of Long Beach revenues. The two-part measure would change the formula for fund transfers from the port to a trust that pays for harbor improvements and change the language in the city charter to clarify the city’s jurisdiction over oil properties at the port.
The result would be a loss of port revenue estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars over a ten-year period- money that would be used develop infrastructure and provide port services, at a time when competition from other ports continues to grow (see page 6, for a story about new container service between Asia and the Port of Manzanillo, Mexico).
While East Coast ports are preparing to welcome Asian cargo, the West Coast seems to be inviting it to leave. Do the mayors and city councils of the West Coast port cities understand the consequences of their actions, or will they blame other factors when carriers start bypassing unwelcoming West Coast ports for greener pastures?
Fidley Watch: Sending Business East
Recently National Public Radio reported on the work being done by East Coast ports to accommodate the flood of larger container ships that will be sailing through the new Panama Canal locks. The Port of Virginia, in Norfolk, is already deep enough to take the large ships. Virginia’s unemployment rate has hovered around 7 percent for the last year, more than two points below the national average.
NPR notes that Robert Morris, Senior Director of External Affairs for the Georgia Ports Authority says the Port of Savannah spent $40 million and more than a decade on environmental impact studies to dredge the Savannah River. Mr. Morris says, “…the completion of the Panama Canal is really the biggest game changer in the maritime business for the East Coast since the invention of the container, and East Coast ports are getting ready for that.”
Georgia’s unemployment has fluctuated between 10.2 and 10.8.
When the dredging is done, Morris says, Savannah will be uniquely positioned to unload and ship cargo to the Gulf States and Midwest. The Port of Virginia will be ready to supply Chicago and other heartland cities after its own massive project, enlarging 28 railroad tunnels for double-stacked trains.
Meanwhile, West Coast ports or their governing bodies continue to discourage business. Last month at the port of Los Angeles (California’s unemployment figures hit 13.2 percent in January and were rising past 12.2 percent at press time), governing board approved new trucking regulations that will phase out independent owner-operator drayage drivers by the end of 2013 in lieu of per-hour employee drivers. The regulations, supported by the Teamsters, are expected to make it easier for the union to organize what until now have been independent drivers.
The new employee-only mandate could affect more than 6,000 port-servicing drivers that are currently independent owner-operators. Portions of the truck plan implemented since 2008 resulted in more than 10,000 drivers leaving the port drayage service and the shuttering of hundreds of local mostly small trucking firms.
The result will most likely be higher drayage rates for vessels calling at Los Angeles.
The new three-year phase-in schedule approved Monday calls for 20 percent of all gate calls at the port to be handled by employee drivers by the end of 2011, 66 percent by the end of 2012 and 100 percent by the end of 2013, just in time for the opening of the new Panama locks. The Mayor of Oakland, Ron Dellums, is working with organized labor on a similar plan.
While the Port of Long Beach plan doesn’t contain the employee mandate, the port has its own problems. In November, Long Beach voters will decide on Proposition D, an amendment to the City Charter designed to give City Hall a bigger share of Port of Long Beach revenues. The two-part measure would change the formula for fund transfers from the port to a trust that pays for harbor improvements and change the language in the city charter to clarify the city’s jurisdiction over oil properties at the port.
The result would be a loss of port revenue estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars over a ten-year period- money that would be used develop infrastructure and provide port services, at a time when competition from other ports continues to grow (see page 6, for a story about new container service between Asia and the Port of Manzanillo, Mexico).
While East Coast ports are preparing to welcome Asian cargo, the West Coast seems to be inviting it to leave. Do the mayors and city councils of the West Coast port cities understand the consequences of their actions, or will they blame other factors when carriers start bypassing unwelcoming West Coast ports for greener pastures?
NPR notes that Robert Morris, Senior Director of External Affairs for the Georgia Ports Authority says the Port of Savannah spent $40 million and more than a decade on environmental impact studies to dredge the Savannah River. Mr. Morris says, “…the completion of the Panama Canal is really the biggest game changer in the maritime business for the East Coast since the invention of the container, and East Coast ports are getting ready for that.”
Georgia’s unemployment has fluctuated between 10.2 and 10.8.
When the dredging is done, Morris says, Savannah will be uniquely positioned to unload and ship cargo to the Gulf States and Midwest. The Port of Virginia will be ready to supply Chicago and other heartland cities after its own massive project, enlarging 28 railroad tunnels for double-stacked trains.
Meanwhile, West Coast ports or their governing bodies continue to discourage business. Last month at the port of Los Angeles (California’s unemployment figures hit 13.2 percent in January and were rising past 12.2 percent at press time), governing board approved new trucking regulations that will phase out independent owner-operator drayage drivers by the end of 2013 in lieu of per-hour employee drivers. The regulations, supported by the Teamsters, are expected to make it easier for the union to organize what until now have been independent drivers.
The new employee-only mandate could affect more than 6,000 port-servicing drivers that are currently independent owner-operators. Portions of the truck plan implemented since 2008 resulted in more than 10,000 drivers leaving the port drayage service and the shuttering of hundreds of local mostly small trucking firms.
The result will most likely be higher drayage rates for vessels calling at Los Angeles.
The new three-year phase-in schedule approved Monday calls for 20 percent of all gate calls at the port to be handled by employee drivers by the end of 2011, 66 percent by the end of 2012 and 100 percent by the end of 2013, just in time for the opening of the new Panama locks. The Mayor of Oakland, Ron Dellums, is working with organized labor on a similar plan.
While the Port of Long Beach plan doesn’t contain the employee mandate, the port has its own problems. In November, Long Beach voters will decide on Proposition D, an amendment to the City Charter designed to give City Hall a bigger share of Port of Long Beach revenues. The two-part measure would change the formula for fund transfers from the port to a trust that pays for harbor improvements and change the language in the city charter to clarify the city’s jurisdiction over oil properties at the port.
The result would be a loss of port revenue estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars over a ten-year period- money that would be used develop infrastructure and provide port services, at a time when competition from other ports continues to grow (see page 6, for a story about new container service between Asia and the Port of Manzanillo, Mexico).
While East Coast ports are preparing to welcome Asian cargo, the West Coast seems to be inviting it to leave. Do the mayors and city councils of the West Coast port cities understand the consequences of their actions, or will they blame other factors when carriers start bypassing unwelcoming West Coast ports for greener pastures?
Mayor Appoints Docker Activist to Los Angeles Port Board
Mayor Villaraigosa has appointed local union activist and longtime docker David Arian to the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners.
Arian, a native of San Pedro, began his career as a longshoreman in 1965 and remained an active member of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union for 44 years until his retirement in 2009. In 1991, he was elected to a term as International President of the ILWU.
In 2006, Mayor Villaraigosa asked him to sit on the joint port advisory for the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach’s Clean Air Action Plan.
Describing himself in the past as a "militant union advocate," Arian has been an active member of the San Pedro community for decades working with organizations like the Toberman Settlement House, the Harbor Interfaith Shelter, and the San Pedro Boys & Girls Club.
He has also served for nearly a decade as president of the Harry Bridges Institute, a San Pedro-based non-profit dedicated to the memory and legacy of ILWU founder Harry Bridges.
Arian still faces a confirmation vote by the Los Angeles City Council. If confirmed, Arian will fill a seat vacated suddenly by Commissioner Joseph Radisich in mid-September. Radisich, also a long-time ILWU member, was the second departure from the port board in a roughly two-month period. Harbor Commission Vice President Jerilyn Lopez-Mendoza left the port board in July to pursue a new private sector job and in early September, Villaraigosa appointed his former chief of staff Robin Kramer to fill Lopez-Mendoza's vacant seat.
Arian, a native of San Pedro, began his career as a longshoreman in 1965 and remained an active member of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union for 44 years until his retirement in 2009. In 1991, he was elected to a term as International President of the ILWU.
In 2006, Mayor Villaraigosa asked him to sit on the joint port advisory for the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach’s Clean Air Action Plan.
Describing himself in the past as a "militant union advocate," Arian has been an active member of the San Pedro community for decades working with organizations like the Toberman Settlement House, the Harbor Interfaith Shelter, and the San Pedro Boys & Girls Club.
He has also served for nearly a decade as president of the Harry Bridges Institute, a San Pedro-based non-profit dedicated to the memory and legacy of ILWU founder Harry Bridges.
Arian still faces a confirmation vote by the Los Angeles City Council. If confirmed, Arian will fill a seat vacated suddenly by Commissioner Joseph Radisich in mid-September. Radisich, also a long-time ILWU member, was the second departure from the port board in a roughly two-month period. Harbor Commission Vice President Jerilyn Lopez-Mendoza left the port board in July to pursue a new private sector job and in early September, Villaraigosa appointed his former chief of staff Robin Kramer to fill Lopez-Mendoza's vacant seat.
Los Angeles Port Offers Tariff Cuts for Imported "Green" Cars
The Port of Los Angeles will be the world's first major port to offer a reduced tariff for imported zero-emission vehicles, under a plan approved last week by the port's governing board.
The plan, if approved by Los Angeles City Council, will offer zero-emission automakers moving their goods through the Los Angeles port a 15 percent tariff reduction.
While applying to all automakers, the move is targeted at Chinese manufacturer BYD Auto Company Limited. Los Angeles City Hall has been trying to persuade the electric and hybrid automaker to use the Port of Los Angeles as its primary United States shipping gateway. In May, BYD announced that it would locate its North American headquarters in Los Angeles.
The work with BYD is part of a City Hall effort to remake Los Angeles as the "electric car capitol" of the US.
According to port officials, the “Zero Emission Vehicle Tariff Measure” is the first of its kind in the maritime industry and is available to any automobile manufacturer who imports through the Port of Los Angeles. The 15 percent tariff reduction takes effect upon approval by the Los Angeles City Council.
The plan, if approved by Los Angeles City Council, will offer zero-emission automakers moving their goods through the Los Angeles port a 15 percent tariff reduction.
While applying to all automakers, the move is targeted at Chinese manufacturer BYD Auto Company Limited. Los Angeles City Hall has been trying to persuade the electric and hybrid automaker to use the Port of Los Angeles as its primary United States shipping gateway. In May, BYD announced that it would locate its North American headquarters in Los Angeles.
The work with BYD is part of a City Hall effort to remake Los Angeles as the "electric car capitol" of the US.
According to port officials, the “Zero Emission Vehicle Tariff Measure” is the first of its kind in the maritime industry and is available to any automobile manufacturer who imports through the Port of Los Angeles. The 15 percent tariff reduction takes effect upon approval by the Los Angeles City Council.
Vancouver USA Port Cargo Faces Overland Trouble
The arrival Sunday at the Washington-state Port of Vancouver may be the easiest part of the journey for nine giant pieces of oil production equipment bound for the Kearl Oil Sands in Canada.
The oil modules, each costing more than $1 million, are part of a total of 207 such modules that are being manufactured in South Korea, transported via cargo ship to Vancouver and then set for transport to the Canadian production site.
Officials at the port have spent several years establishing Vancouver as one of the premier West Coast maritime gateways for oversized cargoes such as the oil modules.
The oil module transportation plan calls for the Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil Canada-owned modules to be moved via barge from Vancouver to the Port of Lewiston in Idaho. From Lewiston the modules will be transferred to trucks for the overland trip through the mountains of Idaho and western Montana to the production site in Canada.
The 207 modules will be sent along in 15 smaller loads spread out between now and next June.
However, Idaho officials have refused permits for the overland transport of several similar ConocoPhillips pieces of equipment and the case reached the Idaho Supreme Court on Friday. A decision is expected within the next four weeks.
The oil modules will have to wait at Lewiston until the permit case is decided. In addition, the Montana Department of Transportation has said it will not decide on whether to issue permits to allow the oil modules to move through Montana until the Idaho court rules on the permit cases.
Public concerns about the oil module transport plan have also raised public concern in Idaho and Montana. Opponents of the oil module plan have said they fear major traffic delays, potential damage to roads and bridges, and possible impact to scenic and cultural resources along the proposed route.
Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil Canada, speaking to the Missoulian newspaper, would not say if the firm has a contingency plan if the overland transport permits are denied.
An Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil Canada spokesperson told the paper that the oil firm is "confident in the process" and the firm's intent is to move the oil modules along the proposed route.
Linwood Laughy of Kooskia, Idaho, one of the plaintiffs in the ConocoPhillips permit case in Idaho, told the paper that Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil's insistence on moving forward is disappointing but no surprise.
"With no decision from the Idaho Supreme Court regarding transportation permits and growing resistance to the mega-loads in Idaho and Montana, the arrival of the first giant Imperial Oil modules at the Port of Vancouver underscores Imperial Oil's arrogance," Laughy told the newspaper via e-mail. "As they told an angry audience in Kooskia on June 29th, ‘We have no plan B.'"
The oil modules, each costing more than $1 million, are part of a total of 207 such modules that are being manufactured in South Korea, transported via cargo ship to Vancouver and then set for transport to the Canadian production site.
Officials at the port have spent several years establishing Vancouver as one of the premier West Coast maritime gateways for oversized cargoes such as the oil modules.
The oil module transportation plan calls for the Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil Canada-owned modules to be moved via barge from Vancouver to the Port of Lewiston in Idaho. From Lewiston the modules will be transferred to trucks for the overland trip through the mountains of Idaho and western Montana to the production site in Canada.
The 207 modules will be sent along in 15 smaller loads spread out between now and next June.
However, Idaho officials have refused permits for the overland transport of several similar ConocoPhillips pieces of equipment and the case reached the Idaho Supreme Court on Friday. A decision is expected within the next four weeks.
The oil modules will have to wait at Lewiston until the permit case is decided. In addition, the Montana Department of Transportation has said it will not decide on whether to issue permits to allow the oil modules to move through Montana until the Idaho court rules on the permit cases.
Public concerns about the oil module transport plan have also raised public concern in Idaho and Montana. Opponents of the oil module plan have said they fear major traffic delays, potential damage to roads and bridges, and possible impact to scenic and cultural resources along the proposed route.
Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil Canada, speaking to the Missoulian newspaper, would not say if the firm has a contingency plan if the overland transport permits are denied.
An Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil Canada spokesperson told the paper that the oil firm is "confident in the process" and the firm's intent is to move the oil modules along the proposed route.
Linwood Laughy of Kooskia, Idaho, one of the plaintiffs in the ConocoPhillips permit case in Idaho, told the paper that Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil's insistence on moving forward is disappointing but no surprise.
"With no decision from the Idaho Supreme Court regarding transportation permits and growing resistance to the mega-loads in Idaho and Montana, the arrival of the first giant Imperial Oil modules at the Port of Vancouver underscores Imperial Oil's arrogance," Laughy told the newspaper via e-mail. "As they told an angry audience in Kooskia on June 29th, ‘We have no plan B.'"
Hyundai Joins Carriers Phasing Out Port Chassis
The number of ocean carriers announcing plans to stop providing container chassis at United States ports continues to grow.
Hyundai Merchant Marine announced last week that it will begin phasing out chassis at six gateway locations as of Nov. 1 and will expand the phase-out to the rest of the nation next year.
Hyundai joins a slew of other carriers – including Atlantic Container Line, CMA CGM, Cosco, Evergreen Marine, NYK Line, and Orient Overseas Container Line – that have announced this year they will phase out container chassis at US ports and other inland locations.
The Nov. 1 round of Hyundai's phase-out plan will affect Baltimore, Md., Buffalo, N.Y., Harrisburg, Pa., Miami, Fla., Philadelphia, Pa., and Worcester, Mass.
Hyundai Merchant Marine announced last week that it will begin phasing out chassis at six gateway locations as of Nov. 1 and will expand the phase-out to the rest of the nation next year.
Hyundai joins a slew of other carriers – including Atlantic Container Line, CMA CGM, Cosco, Evergreen Marine, NYK Line, and Orient Overseas Container Line – that have announced this year they will phase out container chassis at US ports and other inland locations.
The Nov. 1 round of Hyundai's phase-out plan will affect Baltimore, Md., Buffalo, N.Y., Harrisburg, Pa., Miami, Fla., Philadelphia, Pa., and Worcester, Mass.
