Advisories ::
Congestion over at LA-Long Beach
Source: The JOURNAL of COMMERCE ONLINE
November 18, 2004
End of peak season, more labor help clear backlog
LOS ANGELES -- For the first time since June, there are no vessels sitting idle at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex.
"The backlog is officially clear," said Jim McKenna, president of the Pacific Maritime Association, representing waterfront employers. "Every terminal in the nation's busiest port complex is receiving its full allocation of dock workers.
"We're not cutting gangs. Everyone is getting everything they're asking for," McKenna said.
A severe longshore labor shortage, congestion on the intermodal rail network and an influx of 8,000-TEU mega-ships contributed to the port congestion and delays at the nation's busiest container gateway.
The PMA posted the "No ships have been shorted" notice on its Web site for the Wednesday night shift and again on today's morning shift. Terminals today employed 100 work gangs against the vessels and a total of 2,168 longshoremen for vessel, yard and rail operations.
This marks a dramatic turnaround from recent months when as many as 90 vessels were in port on a daily basis, with about one-third of those waiting at anchor for a berth. It took as long as 10 days to work some vessels, compared to a normal turn-time of two or three days.
The PMA and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union hired and trained about 3,200 part-time workers, known as casuals, since August. Also, 1,250 casuals have been promoted to registered, or full-time, status and trained to operate container-handling equipment this year.
Last week, the PMA agreed to promote another 500 casuals to registered status, where the workers earn full union wages and benefits. The promotion and training process is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
During the congestion, at least 110 vessels will have been diverted from LA-Long Beach between July and the end of December, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California. Many of the container vessels were diverted
to Oakland and Seattle-Tacoma.
Shipping lines learned from the five months of congestion that they can no longer funnel all of their growth through LA-Long Beach, McKenna said. Some of the vessel strings that have been diverted to the northern ports will come back to Southern California, but some of the re-deployments will be permanent, he said.
However, carriers continue to enter large, new 8,000-TEU-class vessels into their trans-Pacific fleets. Those ships are best suited for services that call in Southern California, where most of the container terminals spread out over 200 acres or more. Terminal operators estimate that one 8,000-TEU ship needs 140 acres to be worked efficiently.
Employers anticipate that a temporary congestion problem will develop over the Thanksgiving weekend. Thanksgiving is a no-work day, according to the waterfront contract. That means employers can not place orders for labor. Also, veteran longshoremen often stretch Thanksgiving into a long weekend.
McKenna said the congestion should be short-lived. Cargo volumes have begun to decline as the Pacific trade enters the traditional slack season. Also, since the need to reposition empty containers to Asia is no longer urgent, some vessel operators will cut-off the loading process Wednesday night and send the ships on to the next port, McKenna said.
By Bill Mongelluzzo
LOS ANGELES -- For the first time since June, there are no vessels sitting idle at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex.
"The backlog is officially clear," said Jim McKenna, president of the Pacific Maritime Association, representing waterfront employers. "Every terminal in the nation's busiest port complex is receiving its full allocation of dock workers.
"We're not cutting gangs. Everyone is getting everything they're asking for," McKenna said.
A severe longshore labor shortage, congestion on the intermodal rail network and an influx of 8,000-TEU mega-ships contributed to the port congestion and delays at the nation's busiest container gateway.
The PMA posted the "No ships have been shorted" notice on its Web site for the Wednesday night shift and again on today's morning shift. Terminals today employed 100 work gangs against the vessels and a total of 2,168 longshoremen for vessel, yard and rail operations.
This marks a dramatic turnaround from recent months when as many as 90 vessels were in port on a daily basis, with about one-third of those waiting at anchor for a berth. It took as long as 10 days to work some vessels, compared to a normal turn-time of two or three days.
The PMA and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union hired and trained about 3,200 part-time workers, known as casuals, since August. Also, 1,250 casuals have been promoted to registered, or full-time, status and trained to operate container-handling equipment this year.
Last week, the PMA agreed to promote another 500 casuals to registered status, where the workers earn full union wages and benefits. The promotion and training process is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
During the congestion, at least 110 vessels will have been diverted from LA-Long Beach between July and the end of December, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California. Many of the container vessels were diverted
to Oakland and Seattle-Tacoma.
Shipping lines learned from the five months of congestion that they can no longer funnel all of their growth through LA-Long Beach, McKenna said. Some of the vessel strings that have been diverted to the northern ports will come back to Southern California, but some of the re-deployments will be permanent, he said.
However, carriers continue to enter large, new 8,000-TEU-class vessels into their trans-Pacific fleets. Those ships are best suited for services that call in Southern California, where most of the container terminals spread out over 200 acres or more. Terminal operators estimate that one 8,000-TEU ship needs 140 acres to be worked efficiently.
Employers anticipate that a temporary congestion problem will develop over the Thanksgiving weekend. Thanksgiving is a no-work day, according to the waterfront contract. That means employers can not place orders for labor. Also, veteran longshoremen often stretch Thanksgiving into a long weekend.
McKenna said the congestion should be short-lived. Cargo volumes have begun to decline as the Pacific trade enters the traditional slack season. Also, since the need to reposition empty containers to Asia is no longer urgent, some vessel operators will cut-off the loading process Wednesday night and send the ships on to the next port, McKenna said.
By Bill Mongelluzzo
