Cargo Business Newswire

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Top Story

Long Beach port head: Delays in cargo movement up to 5 days

Port of Long Beach Chief Executive Jon Slangerup said the movement of goods at the port is delayed by three to five days due to congestion.

Slangerup, who participated in a town hall last week with Bobby Olvera Jr., president of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 13 and other industry leaders, said the efficiency of the supply chain system is a near-term concern because congestion at the port continues to worsen.

"The supply chain from origin to destination is stressed; in some cases, it’s flawed," Slangerup said. "It doesn’t function as an integrated system. In order to remain competitive going forward, we must figure out a way to make the entire supply chain operate as a single system."

The port head also called the chassis situation a "mismanaged mess."

Las week Slangerup proposed a plan to buy and manage chassis — or trailers that attach to trucks and are used to load cargo containers — to help relieve the chronic bottlenecks.

Olvera asserted hiring more dockworkers would move cargo faster, noting that the ILWU has not been able to hire and train casuals to operate machines for seven years.

"Sometimes we have problems filling forklift jobs because we don’t have men trained," he said. "They’re still sitting in the casual hall waiting seven or eight years to be hired."

The Center for International Trade and Transportation meeting, called "Global Trends, Local Impacts, Big Decisions," explored major trends in trade.

For more of the Press-Telegram story: www.presstelegram.com

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