L.A.-Long Beach terminals speed up launch of off-peak gates

L.A.-Long Beach terminals speed up launch of off-peak gates    Marine terminal operators in the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports said they have agreed to accelerate their program for night and weekend gates by starting five new shifts in rapid order rather than phasing them in, one at a time, over a period of months.
   Last summer the terminal operators announced the extended gate initiative would begin Nov. 1 as part of a broad effort to mitigate congestion problems in the port and on area freeways. The terminals plan to charge shippers $20 per TEU to pay for the extra labor and administrative costs, but refund the amount to shippers who use the Alameda Rail corridor or off-peak hours to move their cargo off the docks. Lack of available waterfront labor forced the terminals to postpone implementation until the first quarter of 2005, after the peak shipping season passes and the longshoremen's union hires and certifies more full-time workers.
   Terminal operators said the change was made after listening to the concerns of truck drivers who serve the twin ports.
   'Truckers made it clear that a sufficient number of evening shifts must be available to them each week before they will adjust their lives to working nights,' said Scott Smith, a vice president with Eagle Marine Services, in a statement. 'Adding just one night shift a month is not likely to be attractive enough to entice truckers to make the transition to working nights.'
   Importers and exporters also expressed the need for more night and weekend options.
   PierPass, the organization created to manage the program, suggested for the first time that it is also considering excluding participating shippers from paying the service fee. Previously, the terminal operators had insisted that all cargo would be assessed the fee, but that refunds would be issued for night and weekend moves. Importers and many service providers complained that such a process would be unwieldy and amounted to giving the terminal operators a float for their funds.
   PierPass has retained maritime consulting firm Palazollo and Associates to assist with the technology and administrative implementation.