Ever-shifting shipping alliances, the consolidation of cargo on new megaships capable of carrying up to 21,000 containers, and the recently widened Panama Canal that can now accommodate much larger vessels are just some of the concerns among port management, and by extension, companies importing produce through the San Pedro Bay Complex.
“Our biggest challenge is ensuring that we move cargo to market faster and more economically than our peers including POLA, ports in the Northwest, the East Coast, Gulf ports, etc.” says Dr. Noel Hacegaba, chief commercial officer of Port of Los Angeles.
He believes POLB is well positioned to compete successfully, even in the long term, “because we have certain advantages that can’t be replicated, such as a population center of 24 million here in Southern California.”
Further, he emphasizes, “We have unmatched infrastructure and location, and as an intermodal gateway can move containers via train or truck faster to Chicago versus an all water routes by 11 days.”
Marcel Van Dijk, marketing manager for the Port of Los Angeles, sees it a little differently. “The larger ships off-load and load back many containers, creating peak demand at the terminals. The alliances are moving containers on many terminals throughout the Port of L.A. and Long Beach; this requires more coordination and increases complexity for the logistics service providers.”
To solve the issues of coordinating containers full of perishables with trucks and rail, both ports have recently implemented a portal that provides technology to leverage the supply chain to deliver better service. Optimizing programs track availability of containers so shippers can make reliable, accurate decisions in advance, in terms of labor and equipment planning. In the past, trucks couldn’t be booked until ships arrived. With this new technology shippers can have predictive availability, increasing efficiencies.
This is an excerpt from the most recent Produce Blueprints quarterly journal. Click here to read the full article.
