The operators of Los Angeles-area ports say President Joe Biden’s round-the-clock cargo mandate is not realistic, according to a report.
The president recently called for the shipping hubs to go into overdrive to ease the supply-chain crunch that has more than a hundred loaded freighters anchored off the coast. But 24/7 operations would cost the ports huge money in overtime, and the owners aren’t eager to eat the expense.
“I don’t see how the terminals are going to be reimbursed. It’s big money,” Ed DeNike, president of SSA Containers, whose parent company Carrix operates three terminals in Long Beach, told the Journal of Commerce.
Standard terminal hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with some weekday nights until 3 a.m. Work slows significantly on Saturdays and shuts down completely on Sundays, the Washington Examiner discovered. Fully opening the terminals, including a 3 a.m. to 8 a.m. shift, is expensive, and truckers likely wouldn’t show up, the Journal reported.
LAZY CRANE OPERATORS MAKING $250K A YEAR ADDING TO PORT CRISIS, TRUCKERS SAY
DeNike said delivering containers to truckers on a graveyard shift costs $200 per container versus $35 to $40 during the first two shifts.
“We tell them, ‘Here is your cost. We’ll be open if someone is going to pay us,’” DeNike said, adding that SSA has not attracted enough interest to warrant expansion.
Last month, Total Terminals International agreed to run the third shift at its Long Beach pier Monday through Thursday and received two trucks over three days, the Journal reported. A third operator, Yusen Terminals, also said little interest existed but would staff the gates if needed.
On Oct. 13, Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka met with Biden and Port Envoy John Porcari about solving the crisis. Porcari was the deputy transportation director under former President Barack Obama and is part of the newly created Supply Chain Disruption Task Force
“For the president of the United States to be focused on activity at your port, the goods movement chain in general, is really unprecedented,” Porcari said in an LA ports online briefing. “That really shows the direct link between our nation’s economy and the goods movement chain which starts at our ports.”
Porcari said the move to 24/7 operations is “absolutely a nationwide opportunity” and the White House is dedicated to it. But he admitted the process will be challenging and no time frame exists for full compliance.
“This is not flipping a light switch,” he said. “The whole supply chain in the U.S. and globally was creeping along before the pandemic. The pandemic laid bare a system that really needs to be modified and the way we can do it is move forward to 24/7. We will knock down the barriers like bowling pins.”
Truckers have told the Washington Examiner that they are not the problem and that they routinely wait up to eight hours for cargo to be loaded onto their chassis. Most are independent operators and get paid by the load, so they welcome a solution to the crisis.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
As of Wednesday, 106 ships are waiting offshore for a chance to unload their cargo. This broke a record of 100 ships that was reported on Oct. 18.
