Night moves: Long Beach begins trial of extended-hour cargo pickup

Giant cranes maneuver containers onto yard dollies on the dock.

Total Terminals International is the launch partner for the Port of Long Beach’s new initiative to increase cargo velocity by expanding gate hours for truck pickup. The move comes amid a huge container surge that is choking productivity and jeopardizing retailers’ holiday deliveries.

The operator of the port’s largest container terminal, located on Pier T, will encourage truckers to make late-night and pre-dawn trips for containers by offering more flexible appointment windows. Shuttle drivers will be able to pick up containers from 11 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Mondays through Thursdays. The gates will be open for prearranged double moves — empty container drop-off plus loaded pickup — between 3 and 7 a.m. In both cases, drivers with appointments will be able to show up at any time rather than being held to a strict reservation slot, the port authority said Tuesday.

Making containers available at off-peak hours is designed to increase throughput by servicing trucks at less busy times and help speed warehouse trips because of reduced levels of traffic on roadways.

“We welcome this pilot project by TTI as a first step toward extending gates to 24/7 operations, and we encourage our cargo owners and trucking partners to give this innovative program a try,” Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero said in a statement.

The Port of Long Beach on Friday announced the plan for extended gate hours. The Port of Los Angeles is testing permanent weekend gates. The programs were implemented in consultation with the U.S. Department of Transportation and the White House in response to supply chain disruptions on businesses and the economy.

The average dwell time for containers unloaded from vessels at marine terminals in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has stretched to six days, according to port officials. Shortages of warehouse space, truck drivers and equipment, on-dock rail capacity, and terminal space, combined with COVID restrictions on longshore labor, have made it difficult for terminals to process containers being dumped by container ships amid a consumer ordering spree that shows few signs of abating. As the funnel for containers tightens, the time to work vessels has increased, resulting in an off-shore queue of more than 70 box ships waiting to park.

“If we can increase utilization of our late-night gates, we can better serve the supply chain, and help speed cargo to market,” said Bill Peratt, CEO of TTI. “By making it more convenient for truckers, we are optimistic that these steps can reduce the dwell time at our terminal.”

TTI is part of Terminal Investment Ltd., the port operating arm of Mediterranean Shipping Co. The facility has 3.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units of capacity, with 16 cranes able to handle 18,000-TEU mega-ships.

TTI will periodically evaluate the late-night trial program and make necessary adjustments, the Long Beach port authority said. The terminal will monitor gate utilization, dwell time of import containers and truck driver time on the dock as it assesses the program’s effectiveness.

Officials didn’t say how the overnight gate operations will be paid for.

Subscribe to FreightWaves’ e-newsletters and get the latest insights on freight right in your inbox.

Click here for more FreightWaves articles by Eric Kulisch.

RECOMMENDED READING:

LA/LB ports to test expanded night, weekend hours

Biden picks former DOT secretary as port czar

UP temporarily stopping eastbound container service to Chicago