California port productivity has not returned to what it was nearly a year ago, but some West Coast ports have announced plans to decrease congestion.
Ken Kellaway, who heads RoadOne Intermodal Logistics, recently told the Agriculture Transportation Coalition a “significant backlog still exists” at Los Angeles and Long Beach. This month, California Association President Dick Coyle noted truck turn-times remain “horrific,” even though the state’s port employers and dockworkers ratified a new contract two months ago.”
“This is the best it’s going to ever be again? “ Coyle asked. “And can we realize that whatever productivity levels were achievable in years past are in the rearview mirror?”
On July 9, the Port of Oakland announced the first of 400 new dockworkers had arrived and would be implanted through September. Port said employers and the longshore union agreed to train and promote an additional 100 current workers.
Oakland’s additional efforts to speed movement include:
Late last month, officials installed Bluetooth sensors along thoroughfares in the Outer Harbor area of the port for a several-month pilot program. These will detect anonymous signals emitted from phones or other mobile devices in trucks to calculate wait times into terminal yards.
