Monthly metrics for frequent callers
The terminal operators understand that turn times are an important issue for the truck community and are committed to working with the community to move cargo efficiently through the ports. Last summer, PierPASS formed a working group of 30 stakeholders representing importers, exporters, motor carriers, ports and marine terminal operators to address issues of congestion, including wait time outside terminal gates.
To be effective, this effort needs to be based on factual information. The terminal operators and others are working to provide metrics for tracking port operations.
One important metric is the number of container moves trucks make per day. The data collected by PierPASS to run the OffPeak programs lets us see exactly how many moves each truck makes.
For the purposes of this analysis, we wanted to find out how many moves a truck makes if it is working every day. To do so, we looked at “frequent callers,” which the two ports define as trucks making one or more moves per weekday.
The data shows that 81 percent of trucks averaged three or more container moves per day in December. Nearly half of trucks – 48.4 percent – made four or more moves per day. Twenty-two percent made five or more moves per day, and 2.4 percent averaged seven or more moves per day.
It is important to note that “moves per day” isn’t necessarily the same as “turns per day.” A turn, or round trip, can involve either one container move or two.
The terminal operators have begun reporting in-terminal turn times and are working on ways to track and report queue times outside the terminal gates. Stay tuned for more info soon.