During 2015 and beyond, the resurging U.S. economy, strong U.S. financial markets and currency, competitive U.S. manufacturing and low U.S. unemployment will increase the demand for consumer goods and drive increased foreign trade, enabling some ports to rebound beyond pre-recession peak volumes.
But the goods movement industry needs to fix itself to reap these rewards.
The congestion caused by larger ships and related mixed volumes from ocean carrier alliance partners severely stressed productivity in 2014, and only ports that take immediate action will avoid these same peak-season meltdowns in 2015.
The winners will be those who have begun to shed the recession cutback mode that had become all too comfortable.
That means investing substantial dollars in port infrastructure that will increase overall large-ship capacity, expanding on-dock rail capacity, added trucking throughput, innovating and adopting better technology, increasing environmental stewardship and, most importantly, bringing back enough highly qualified people to get the job done.
It means communication and cooperation among all industry stakeholders and landlord ports, taking on a more operationally active stance by executing key initiatives such as chassis pool operations, empty container yard storage, and supply chain information integration leading toward the ultimate goal — a supply chain finally operating smoothly as a single system.
This is a time of rapid change and evolution in our industry as a whole, and the ports that take the lead will be those that have embraced change and are flexible enough to give trade customers the consistently fast, efficient and affordable service they need to be successful.
Jon W. Slangerup, CEO, Port of Long Beach