Overview
Unusually high levels of congestion continued in December at the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach. The ongoing shortage of available chassis continued to slow port operations. This was compounded by reported shortages of skilled labor needed to operate various terminal equipment.
Marine terminal operators worked to reduce the backlogs of containers by running 72 additional gates (shifts open to truck traffic) during the month. The 72 additional gates were a 31% increase over the 233 OffPeak gates originally scheduled for December. The MTOs operated 73 additional gates in September, a 30% increase, 86 additional gates in October, a 33% increase, and 118 additional gates in November, a 55% increase.
PierPass Monthly Transaction Data
After increasing for several months due to the congestion, truck transaction times began to fall in December.
Average in-terminal turn time in December 2014:
- 55.9 minutes day shift
- 58.4 minutes night shift
For comparison, the average in-terminal turn time in November 2014 was 58.3 minutes for the day shift and 61.4 minutes for the night shift.
In-terminal turn time is the average amount of time a truck is inside a terminal to complete a transaction. Truck activity information is derived from RFID data, and excludes lunch hour, breaks and trouble tickets. Turn time at individual terminals will vary depending on time of day and other factors. For more information about turn times and how we measure them, please see our Q&A at http://goo.gl/PiOjBp.
Average daily moves per truck for frequent callers* in December:
- 5 or moves per day: 5%
- 4 moves per day: 11%
- 3 moves per day: 28%
- 2 moves per day: 36%
- 1 move per day: 20%
*The ports define frequent callers as trucks making one or more moves per weekday. Average moves per day by frequent callers tells us how many moves a truck can make if it is working every day. In December, 16 percent of frequent callers made four or more moves per day.
Gate moves during Peak and OffPeak/exempt shifts:
- Total Peak gate moves: 333,879 (55%)
- Total OffPeak/Exempt gate moves: 271,302 (45%)
A gate move occurs when a container enters or leaves a marine terminal via the truck gates. Peak shifts are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. OffPeak shifts are Monday through Friday, 6:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m., and Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday night and Sunday shifts, which are not regularly scheduled, are considered “exempt.”
Note: All terminals were closed on Christmas Day, December 25. Some terminals were also closed for one or both shifts on December 24 and December 31.
To learn what it takes for a truck to drop off or pick up a container at a marine terminal, please see http://youtu.be/P9IJN1yIIJ4.