Drayage

The Teamsters union is accelerating its efforts to organize harbor truck drivers in Southern California.

Truck turn times at the Port of Long Beach's newly automated Long Beach Container Terminal are half those at other terminals in the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex.

Some truckers working at the Port of New York and New Jersey are turning away from the leasing system that dominates the industry.

With an average of 15 percent of chassis invoice charges inaccurate or subject to dispute, motor carriers that automate the reconciliation of invoices save thousands of dollars annually, according to a chassis billing specialist.

The government of India is looking to automate gate transactions at the country's major ports.

Although port authorities and trucking organizations in Oakland and Los Angeles-Long Beach have been leading the way in implementing global-positioning satellite and Bluetooth technologies to increase cargo velocity, ports and truckers on the East and Gulf coasts are anxious to follow. Technology products are expected to surface at other ports in short order.

The largest trade group representing drayage companies in the Port of New York and New Jersey has created its own web-based forum to connect truckers looking to make “street turns.”

One of the big three providers of U.S. marine chassis is being sold to a new owner.

Truck turn times at container terminals in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach got a bit longer last month, but still remain below what has been described as a new normal for the harbor trucking community.

California drayage companies are not rushing to take advantage of new legislation that could shield them from fines and penalties if they classify their independent contractor drivers as employees.

The California labor commissioner’s office has launched an amnesty program for trucking companies.

Container volumes have returned to pre-recession levels and carriers are deploying super-post-Panamax ships in the U.S. trades.

India shippers will have to pay more when their trucks get to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust.

The Port of Oakland is doing its part to reduce truck congestion with a subsidy program.

DP World-operated Chennai Container Terminal said it has made significant progress in easing truck bottlenecks that have long plagued India’s second-largest public container gateway and busiest gateway on the east coast.

A mobile phone app developed by an Oakland trucker to make it easier to exchange empty equipment outside of the harbor can potentially reduce congestion at the port’s marine terminal gates, the designer of the product stated.

The onset of new resin production in the Gulf Coast region will be good news for Gulf Winds International. The Houston-based distribution company expects booming petrochemical plant construction in the region to lead to a surge in containerized exports and transloading.

Global Container Terminal on the Jersey City-Bayonne, N.J. border closed mid-morning Thursday and will stay closed throughout the day, after a tractor-trailer struck two people standing alongside a line of trucks, killing a driver and injuring a second man.

The visionary Global Trade and Logistics Complex that will revolutionize the transfer of cargo between vessels and truck and rail transportation on the West Coast is taking shape in the middle of the Port of Oakland.

Logistics providers out of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust are again reporting long truck lines and frequent gate closings at terminals in India’s busiest public container gateway, reminiscent of the gridlock in the second half of last year following labor disruptions that diverted some cargo to nearby private, or minor, ports.

Truck turn times in Los Angeles-Long Beach unexpectedly showed dramatic improvement in March, due to the seasonal drop in cargo volume that followed the Chinese New Year in Asia, but also because terminal operators in the largest U.S. port complex are working harder than ever to improve their gate operations.

International Longshoremen’s Association leader Dennis Daggett said the ILA isn’t to blame for delays in launching a universal port chassis pool at the Port of New York and New Jersey, and that intermodal equipment providers don’t seem committed to the idea.

A proposed universal chassis pool at the Port of New York and New Jersey is dead in the water, but chassis lessors haven’t given up on the idea, an executive at one of the leasing companies told truckers Thursday.

The Port of Oakland is using two smartphone applications to improve trucker turn times and address the long visit times at marine terminals that are the bane of harbor trucking companies at many U.S. ports.

Intermodal equipment providers are in the early stages of using GPS technology to track their chassis in seaport and inland locations, and if the return on investment is adequate, IEPs anticipate greater use of the technology.

The North American Chassis Pool Cooperative has partnered with Asset Intelligence to deploy a chassis tracking tool designed to improve fleet utilization, enhance billing accuracy and reduce fleet maintenance costs.

United Arab Shipping Co. has appointed TRAC Intermodal as the carrier’s sole chassis provider in the United States. Stuart Sandlin, president of UASC North America, said using a single chassis provider will benefit customers and make UASC more competitive in quoting carrier haulage rates under which the ship line arranges inland transportation.

An on-going analysis of the factors that contribute to marine terminal congestion has industry experts concluding that ports will probably have to implement at least a half-dozen measures in order to relieve what has become one of the biggest bottlenecks in goods movement.

Los Angeles-based startup Cargomatic has named two logistics veterans, one from Coyote and another from CEVA logistics, to its leadership team.

The owner-operator drayage model in Southern California took another hit this week as the prominent and creative harbor trucking company TTSI filed for bankruptcy in a federal court in Delaware.

The 16th Annual TPM Conference in Long Beach generated industry headlines and insights available nowhere else. While those on the ground at the event got the early scoop, we have you covered with these key takeaways from the diverse array of panels and discussions hosted by our talented and experienced team of editors.

Terminal operators in Los Angeles-Long Beach appear to be stuck in a new normal of average truck visit times of about 90 minutes, which has been the case now for the past two years, much to the displeasure of harbor truckers who believe a turn time of one hour should be standard.

Truckers at DP World-operated International Container Transshipment Terminal, or Vallarpadam, called off a six-day strike that ground inland freight movements to a near-standstill and forced shippers to divert some cargo away from Cochin, India’s southeastern major public harbor.

A strike by truckers at DP World-operated International Container Transshipment Terminal, or Vallarpadam, in India’s Port of Cochin entered its fifth day on Monday, forcing shippers to reroute some cargo via nearby ports, mostly Tuticorin.

Several dozen drayage operators have signed up for the latest program to replace the Port of New York and New Jersey’s oldest trucks with newer, less-polluting models, and officials are trying to persuade others to follow suit.

Whether it’s the growing presence of mega-ships at U.S. ports, the proliferation of mandatory appointment systems at marine terminals or the transfer of carrier-owned chassis to equipment leasing firms, harbor trucking companies are paying a price for decisions made by other members of the transportation supply chain.

Drayage operators say container lines’ continuing influence over chassis lowers efficiency at ports and is an obstacle to the creation of truck appointment systems at marine terminals.

Harbor trucking appears to be evolving into a two-model system. The independent-contractor model is best suited for entrepreneurial drivers who are comfortable with a high-risk, high-reward environment, while other drivers prefer the security of an hourly wage and guaranteed benefits.

The British Columbia government appointed Duncan MacPhail container trucking commissioner at Port Metro Vancouver, replacing Andy Smith who left the post following criticism of potential conflicts of interest arising from his leadership of an association representing terminal operators.

Port Metro Vancouver’s 14-point action plan to reduce truck wait times, improve terminal fluidity and ensure compensatory earnings for the approximately 1,700 drayage truck drivers that serve Canada’s largest container port is celebrating its two-year milestone with dramatically reduced turn times.