- Increased U.S. trade with Asia: The Trans-Pacific trade, while not the world’s largest, is nevertheless the most vibrant container shipping market thanks to the improving U.S. economy;
- Southern California congestion: Ships and containers have been diverted to Oakland to avoid cargo backlogs at Los Angeles and Long Beach ports;
- Labor-management negotiations: An impasse in the eight-month-long quest for a new waterfront labor contract has disrupted West Coast port operations.
New Saturday/Sunday gates ease some pressure on Port of Oakland cargo buildup
posted by AJOT | Jan 05 2015 at 01:19 PM | Ports & Terminals
New Saturday and Sunday gates are putting a dent in an extraordinary cargo buildup at the Port of Oakland. The Port said today more than 1,000 U.S. import containers have moved out of its marine terminals every weekend for the past month. It’s cargo that would otherwise move weekdays when terminals and harbor truckers strain to manage soaring volume.
“The weekend moves are only a fraction of what we send out the gates Monday-through-Friday so they’re not the complete answer to our big buildup” said Port Maritime Director John Driscoll. “But every little bit helps while we’re working to keep cargo flowing.”
The largest marine terminal operators at the Port have opened weekend gates since Thanksgiving. It’s an unusual move precipitated by an unprecedented cargo surge in Oakland. Import volume has increased in each of the past three months compared to previous year totals. The reasons: