This commentary appeared in the print edition of the Jan. 6, 2020, Journal of Commerce Annual Review and Outlook.
Terminal gates are one of the most important customer touchpoints we operate and are subject to all kinds of delays and issues, as well as affecting the trucker experience and their profitability.
An appointment system is necessary at high-volume terminals. We’re implementing that in our Elizabeth, New Jersey, terminal, and we already have an appointment system in Los Angeles at Pier 400. When it comes to truck appointments, we use the comparison to airports. You wouldn’t show up at the airport to get on a plane without a reservation, and the same holds true for truck appointments at larger terminals.
Every terminal has their individual challenges in the yard — whether it be safety, yard size, type of container handling equipment used, traffic flows, trucker navigation ease, signage, etc. Safety is the most important issue, especially with so many truckers driving inside terminals and all the working cranes.
One of the container yard solutions we are excited about is currently being developed at Pier 400 now. Using semi-automated straddle carriers will completely change the challenges of trucks in the container yard. The truck will stay in a protected space in the container yard perimeter, and the straddle carrier will bring the container to the truck.
North America has experienced the most growth in both average ship size and average call volume size of any world region. This has implications for yard densities and landside surges, and generally makes operating container terminals more complex.
To respond, we are focused on creating higher productivity and safer handling of the larger vessels through better use of data to plan ahead, working with shipping lines to arrive and depart on schedule, and decoupling operations within the terminal — berth, yard, rail, and gate — so that each activity’s run rate is not affected by the others.