RBS Americas LLC

Attendance at 2008’s Terminal Operating Conference in Long Beach was noticeably lower than prior years. Without hesitation, everyone blamed the economy. While I certainly cannot dispute the fact that the economy is to blame, I can question the companies that cut back by skipping the conference entirely or by sending just one representative. Over the last decade, we have seen container traffic grow dramatically through our ports and terminals. Now we are seeing a downturn. While none of us likes to see our business slow, this could present an opportunity for our container terminals. When volumes are up and business clogs our gates and yards, and ships are at anchor in the harbor, we have all we can handle to address immediate problems with typically short-term fixes. This downturn gives our terminal executives time to step back and assess what needs to be done in the longer term so that when volumes come back, and we know they will, we will be in a position to address this without serious disruption. I encourage our ports and terminals to use the lull in traffic to look at their current cargo-handling equipment, IT systems, processes and people. Now is a good time for the terminal operators to introduce new cargo-handling equipment to make yards more dense. In addition, the terminal operators can look to implement new technologies such as terminal operating systems, RFID and optical character reader technology at the gates, and a global positioning system in the yard. Most importantly, I see this as an excellent opportunity to improve training. New technologies will require a highly trained work force to get the most from the advancements. We encourage the terminal operators to look at this lull as a good time to train their staff — management and labor — to prepare for the next surge. It’s just around the corner.