Friday at 4:30 am, 100 SalSon trucks were lined up outside a special gate at APM Terminal in Port Elizabeth, NJ to retrieve containers slowed by the recent cyberattack that impacted many of APM's global terminals. The special gate was open to all dray operators providing Customs Examination Station (CES) services, however SalSon trucks essentially occupied the entire lane (check out video at end of this post). The objective: pull containers as fast as possible for SalSon customers whose supply chains have stalled due to computer issues at APM. SalSon drivers waited two hours to get through the gate as police escorts organized the traffic entering the terminal.  SalSon's status as a CES provider allowed the company to use the special gate to pick up both CES and non-CES containers.   There were no TIR tickets being processed and no documentation. Due to computer issues, the entire process was manual "At times like this, you need partners that will step up and do the tough work required to get the job done," said SalSon CEO, Anthony Berritto. 
  • SalSon's dispatch team assembled company drivers to come in and be ready by 4 am
  • SalSon ownership and top executives were on site during overnight hours to ensure that trucks were lined up on time and everything would run smoothly.
  • SalSon trucks were first in line at the special gate
"When an importer's cargo sits, particularly products with a shelf life, companies risk losing millions of dollars," said Berritto. "SalSon marshalled an army of its associates to get this cargo off port as fast as possible. We're glad we were able to step in and leverage SalSon's assets and port know-how to get these products to market." SalSon operates one of the largest drayage operations serving the Port of New York & New Jersey. This crisis at the APM Terminal points up the importance of having assets – tractors and chassis – to move large volumes of containers, when needed.