Long Beach port looks to on-dock rail business to boost its fortunes
The US port of Long Beach's executive director Mario Cordero says that new on-dock rail investment and better chassis utilisation are now the trade gateway's top two objectives.
In an interview with AJOT at the Trans Pacific Maritime (TPM) conference in Long Beach, Mr Cordero said that challenges from the Panama Canal expansion and continued gains by the Prince Rupert container/rail port in Canada did not stop the port of Long Beach from having a record year in 2018, AJOT reported.
Mr Cordero pointed out that ongoing capital investments in on-dock rail upgrades, and the completion of both the Desmond bridge replacement and final phase of the automated Long Beach container terminal have helped the port stay ahead of the competition.
Both the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach faced congestion problems earlier this year due to the high volume of import shipments arriving in anticipation of the imposition of tariffs on imports from China by the US, triggering delays in truck pick-ups and deliveries at container terminals and overcrowding at southern California warehouses.
Mr Cordero said that "there continues to be a chassis mis-allocation that needs to be addressed by a neutral grey pool, so that there is a sufficient reserve to meet high demand periods."