b'20American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comU.S. businesses reaching(SURGEcontinued from page 18) into WestCoastportsoverthenext a position withthe likelihood of ayearI am confident that the rail- surge of cargoes coming in fromroads are looking at the current world Chinese consumers online around the world, moving through thesituation and will adjust accordingly.U.S. West Coast ports[to] nowmove ahead and maybe actually cap- C aliFOrniar egulatOryD emanDNew Alibaba AI tool simplifies sourcing processes. turesomefirstcallserviceasmoreFOre leCtriCt ruCkSw illandmorevesselsturnupalongthei nCreaSet ruCkingC OStSBy Peter Buxbaum, AJOT West Coast. OConnellsaysthebigobstacle TheresultisOakland[now]for California: is really regulatory Trade relations between the Unitedlaunchedin1999andheadquarteredstandsa chance to sort of step upand has to do with theaggressive States and China have not been goingin Hangzhou, China, serves buyers andand say, We can take cargoWemovesonthepartoftheCalifornia smoothlyoflate,andtheeconomicsuppliers in 200 countries and regionshaverailconnectionstotheinteriorAir Resources Board (CARB) and the newsoutofthePeoplesRepublicaroundtheworld,andishelpingtoof the United States. We have a largeSouth Coast Air Quality Management hasalsobeenlessthanstellar,butdrivethatgrowth.Overone-billionpopulation base. We have a large andDistrict (SCAQMD) to drive techno-U.S. businesses are selling more thanChineseconsumersbuyitemssuchwealthypopulationbasedinNorth- logicalsolutionswhenthetechnol-everbeforeintotheworldsmostas computers and electronics, apparelern California. Theyve gotaogy is not available. Theres a lot of populous country.and leather products, and personal caresaleable commodity there to present talk about moving toward electric Afewreasonsexplainthisphe- and health products, from businessestotheshippinglines.Andnowvehiclesto move containers around nomenon.Foremost,therapideco- represented on Alibabas internationalthattheyrepastthewholeissueofports and replace diesel driven trucks nomic growth that China experiencede-commerceplatforms. Accordingtotheballpark,theyvegotawindowwithelectric,batterydrivenvehi-before encountering its recent speedfindingsfromtheeconomicresearchof opportunity here to really turn thecles. And it is a mindset inamong bumphasproducedanenormousfirm NDP Analytics, U.S. companiesPort around. the regulatorsthatthey continue middle class. Those folks have devel- soldover$66billionworthofcon- to hold the transportation companies opedtastesforeverythingfrompetsumer goods to Chinese buyers on Ali- up & bnSF S urgeC apabilitieS and the ports to task thatthe tech-productstoU.S.snackbrandsandbabas e-commerce platforms in 2022,OConnellexpectsthetworail- nology will be developed and that at luxury goods. According to a reporta 7.5% increase over the prior year.roadswhichservicethe WestCoastsome point therell be this grand con-by Bain & Co., Chinese shoppers willDemand for U.S. goods in Chinaports, the Union Pacific and the Bur- version where well all move to elec-comprise 40% of all luxury consum- isreallystrong,saidRahMahtani,lington Northern Santa Fe, to adjusttric vehicles ona certain date. Then ers by 2030. head of marketing for North Americatheir rail capacity to handle the importyou read the realitythat as much at Alibaba.com. There is tremendoussurgesoastominimizedisruptionsas CARB would like to see everybody C hinaSD igitalt ranSFOrmatiOn demand for many iconic brands andmovingcontainerloadsfromWestdriving an electric carand every China has also undergone a mas- luxury products in China. Cross-bor- Coast ports to Chicago and other Mid- trucker driving an electric semiits sivedigitaltransformation.Itrepre- der e-commerce on Alibaba platformswest destinations: Its not as thoughpretty far off.sentsthelargeste-commercemarkethasgrownby47.4%since2019,the railroads are necessarily in a posi- OConnell predicts: Theres going globally, according to the Internationalaccording to Mahtani. tion to respond with alacrity to a newto be a shortfall in capacityWell, TradeAssociation(ITA),generatingAlibabarecentlyintroducedasurge in demand for spaceon theirwhenyouhavelesscapacity nearlyhalfofalltransactions.Overnew tool on its platforms called Smarttrains coming out of the West Coastyoure going to bid up the cost of50%ofallretailsalesinChinawillAssistant, powered by artificial intel- ports. Sotheres always the poten- providing the service by those who soon be taking place online, accordingligence(AI),whichmakesiteasiertial for dislocationthat will take ahave the capacity. Thatwill drive to figures from the Alibaba Group.forsellerstosourceproductsandfew months to work throughantic- up the cost of moving goods around Alibaba.com,aplatformforbusi- forsupplierstohavetheirproductsipating that therell beincreasingthe State. ness-to-business(B2B)e-commerce(REACHINGcontinued on page 23) volumesofcontainertrafficcoming(SURGEcontinued on page 21)READY,INNOVATIVE &RESOLUTION FOCUSED40 Reliable access between U.S. Markets and the Pacic RimOptimal supply chain readinessSuperior, Actionable, Operational Data Visibility45Recognized industry leadershipInnovative Port Optimizer supply chain solution 50Leader in Environmental Stewardship53 ft channel and berth depthEFFICIENCY FROM TOP TO BOTTOM.portoosangeles.org @PortofLA'