News, Trends, Analysis
Port of Los Angeles to test hybrid-electric trucks
The Port of Los Angeles announced it had entered negotiations with locally based Vision Industries for the purchase and evaluation of the company’s hydrogen fuel cell hybrid-electric trucks. The port said the heavy-duty big-rigs would be tested to evaluate their suitability for drayage operations and related activities.
The Vision trucks are powered by a combination of a hydrogen fuel cell and lithium batteries and have a potential range of up to 400 miles.
The port said the hybrid trucks will be put through a series of on-road and laboratory tests with local drayage trucking companies expected to assist with the demonstration over the next 12 to 18 months. The University of California at Riverside’s College of Engineering Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT) laboratories will help guide the data collection and analysis, the port said.
The Port of L.A. said it would continue working with Balqon Corporation, another Class 8 electric vehicle manufacturer, through an existing contract to demonstrate the use of its fully electric vehicle. The CE-CERT laboratories will also guide these evaluations, the port said.
British Columbia’s Deltaport opens third container berth
The sun came out just in time at the opening ceremony for Global Container Terminals and the Vancouver Metro Port Authority for their third, $400 million container berth at Deltaport, British Columbia, following a night of howling winds that reportedly hit up to 80 mph on the Roberts Bank.
In a tent situated under huge white ZPMC container cranes, Canada’s then-Minister of International Trade Stockwell Day, said Canadians don’t normally like to tout their country’s advantages, but he pronounced the time had come to tell the world. So Minister Day went on to tout the additional 600,000-TEU capacity of Deltaport’s newest container terminal and dual-hoist capability.
Deltaport’s total container-handling capacity is now at 1.8 million TEUs, up 50 percent with the addition of the new facility.
Peter Ladouceur, assistant vice president of intermodal marketing for the Canadian National Railway told Cargo Business News that new berth “comes at a great time with the economy starting to recover…we’re optimistic the market is going to like this product.”
Further evidence of the Canada’s collaborative Asia-Pacific Gateway effort was put forth with the ceremony’s opening song-prayer courtesy of the Tsawwassen First Nation, and Chief Kim Baird’s reminder to all that they were surrounded by Tsawwassen tribal land.
Chief Baird said the Tsawwassens have supported Deltaport’s development, balanced with environmental stewardship.
The tribe is working on a joint venture with the port to develop a $10 million port industrial area, she said, adding: “We are forward thinking like our ancestors.”
Daimler Trucks receives$40 mil from DOE
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Secretary Steven Chu announced that Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) has received close to $40 million through the U.S. Department of Energy’s 21st Century Truck Technology Partnership for Class 8 trucks.
The DOE award will be shared by DTNA’s sister company, Detroit Diesel Corporation, among other partners. The DTNA award is the largest of the nine project awards announced by the DOE out of more than $115 million worth of total funding available through the program.
The DOE program is for qualified OEM’s for research projects aimed at improving freight efficiency for Class 8 trucks. The DOE says the vehicle prototypes are to be built to move large volumes of freight at efficiency levels that well exceed present standards, reducing greenhouse gases and dependency on foreign oil.
One of the main project goals is to be able to demonstrate a 50 percent total increase in vehicle freight efficiency through a five-year research and development process that focuses on advanced vehicle systems and engine technologies.
Mayors want Bayonne Bridge raised for larger containerships
Bayonne Mayor Mark A. Smith and Staten Island’s borough president agree that the Bayonne Bridge should be jacked up to allow sufficient clearance for new large container ships.
Smith recently crossed the Kill Van Kull and met with Staten Island Borough President James P. Molinaro, and both agreed that raising the bridge would best serve the interests of both communities, officials said.
Other options include building a new bridge and building a tunnel under the Kill Van Kull.
A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey released last September concluded that raising the bridge would be the cheapest and fastest way to solve the problem.
– New Jersey Journal
In This Issue
News, Trends & Analysis
New Items
Trade Tools: How Uncle Sam helps exporters
Capital Watch: Larger issues loom behind federal transport agendas
Supply Chain
Chris Steele: Development opportunities north and south of the border
Compliance Corner: Denied Party Screening – Make sure you comply...
comprehensively and timely
Product Review: Invoicing and Auditing solutions
Commentary
David Bennett: Early signs of trouble
Gateway Glance
Panama
The Port Community
Game Changer: Expansion of the Panama Canal will reshape global trade patterns
All-weather ports are “all-in”
Breakbulk Quarterly: East Coast - Thinking outside the box
Breakbulk Quarterly: Brighter outlook for West Coast breakbulk in 2010
Final Say
Getting TIGER by the tail
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