Truckers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach say they’re having chronic problems securing appointment slots for container moves, something that’s particularly frustrating now because there’s little to no congestion at the gateway’s marine terminals.
“It’s been the same dilemma regardless of circumstances,” Matt Schrap, CEO of the Harbor Trucking Association (HTA), told the Journal of Commerce , Friday.
That may begin to change. The HTA and Yusen Terminals in Los Angeles met Friday and agreed to a 60-day pilot project designed to shorten the window for taking delivery of containers from two hours to 90 minutes. That would allow for more appointment slots during the day and potentially reduce the time that truckers spend in line waiting for containers to be delivered, Schrap said.
Schrap also said he will present the Yusen pilot project to the HTA board. If the board endorses it, the HTA could encourage other terminals in Los Angeles-Long Beach to test it. Yusen is one of 12 container terminals in the port complex.
Yusen and the HTA are also considering refining the cancellation process, which would address the problem of truckers booking two or three appointments for the same slot. When an initial booking is made, it is a generic form that contains little information. When the booking is accepted, the trucker is required to fill in all required data, such as the name of the driver, license plate number, etc. But while truckers fill in the required data to make the booking official, they often do not cancel the other bookings, so those slots go wasted.
Marine terminal operators (MTOs) in Los Angeles and Long Beach, the largest US port complex, note that while truckers complain sufficient appointment slots are not available, MTOs generally offer 10 gates per week. They are open for the day shift on Monday through Friday, four weekday night shifts Monday through Thursday and a Saturday day gate. Alan McCorkle, president and CEO of Yusen Terminals in Los Angeles, said Los Angeles-Long Beach offers more shifts than any other port in the country.
However, while business is brisk for the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. day shift, traffic tails off during the 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. night shift, with little to no traffic after the 11 p.m. lunch break. There are almost always a number of appointment slots each night that go unfilled, McCorkle said. When truckers complain of insufficient appointment slots, what they are really saying is, “The slots weren’t available when they wanted them,” he said.
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