Up Front: Walk a mile in their shoes

By Peter Hurme

I just returned from our inaugural Southeast Freight Conference in Charlotte, N.C., and naturally my head is spinning with more topics than I can put down in this constricted space.

So, I’ll stick to a theme I felt was bubbling beneath the surface at the gathering of those who move freight through the East Coast gateways: Will East Coast ports come to know what it’s like to be a West Coast port?
It’s interesting how talk of East Coast gateways permeate industry gatherings out West; often within the context of the widened Panama Canal attracting more post-Panamax cargo from the big Pacific Coast container ports, closer to the major U.S. population base back east.

On the Atlantic side, the industry seems to talk more about Southern California and the challenges more containers from Asia might bring; or, as one speaker at our event put it, experiencing the “disruption and ambivalence” of labor issues, congestion (during busier times), environmental regulation, and community opposition.

In the next five to ten years, the term “trans-Pacific” is undoubtedly going to have much greater meaning beyond North America’s western freight network. East Coast and some Gulf Coast ports and their inland pipelines will become a much bigger component in Asia’s cargo flow.

For those new to being a trans-Pacific port, they will likely experience what it feels like to be one.

The first palpable tremor was felt recently when the International Longshoremen Association’s contract renewal was rejected over, principally, the introduction of new technologies on the East Coast working waterfront. This brought back some memories of the ILWU-PMA showdown on the West Coast seven years ago, when new technology versus the fear of union job losses permeated those discussions.

How about the ability to bring bigger ships into East Coast harbors? Average ship channel depth there is still an issue, although federal funds for deepening will help.

Once channels are enlarged and deepened, post-Panamax ships will start calling. With 64 percent more of them projected when the new Canal opens, the issues of port-side infrastructures and the need for more robust inland distribution will be necessary. Again, these issues are being addressed here and there, and with cargo volumes as flat as they are, there is perhaps a little more time to address these freight mobility challenges.

And what of clean air and community challenges? The recent Port Authority of New York-New Jersey clean initiative announcement was a signal that eastern ports are becoming more cognizant of what their western counterparts have been and continue to be up against.

I don’t bring these challenges up to be a little thorn in the side of the freight movement industry on the East Coast. But then again, maybe I do. These were the types of issues we were covering and editorializing on several years ago for the West Coast shipping industry.

You might ask, why all of the concern at this time, when shipping lines are estimated to have lost $20 billion in the economic crash of this past year, and with 10 percent of the world’s container-shipping fleet idling?

I think our regular columnist, David Bennett, answered this succinctly at the conference in Charlotte: “History shows that demand can return as quickly as it evaporated.

Stay vigilant.”

In This Issue

Up Front

News, Trends & Analysis
New Items

U.S. employment environment promotes import uncertainty

Supply Chain
How are you planning for the rebound?

Trade compliance often has a broader scope

Features
Optimism characterizes inaugural Southeast Freight Conference

Gateway at a glance: Northern California

Ports & infrastructure
Prince Rupert looks towards Memphis

Canada tries to standardize port performance metrics

Global players jockey over Arctic shipping routes

Port Products
Terminal management systems

Commentary
Roll up your sleeves for the next phase

On the Horizon
The Internet of 2020

Casualties