PierPass launch date slides to late July

PierPass launch date slides to late July    The start date for PierPass, the joint program for extended gate hours being developed by terminal operators at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, has been pushed back once again.
   Affiliated Computer Services, the company hired by the terminals to develop and operate the information technology system to manage the program for extended night and weekend gates, will begin enrolling companies for PierPass accounts in about a month and intends to begin full operations by late July, ACS spokeswoman Kara Ross said. The latest schedule had called for a June 1 start date.
   To cover the costs of operating extended hours, the terminal operators established a special purpose corporation to collect a $20 per TEU fee from shippers if their containers are picked up by truck during daytime hours. Containers that move during off-peak hours or that traveled by rail via the Alameda Corridor are exempt.
   ACS will monitor container moves, collect the fees and administer rebates for qualifying moves. Companies can set up accounts through which they will be billed for peak moves or receive automatic credit for designated off-peak or rail moves.
   The Southern California terminals announced PierPass last August as a way to head off anticongestion legislation that would have taxed daytime container moves from the port during peak hours, and set an early November launch date. The terminals backed off their ambitious schedule when it became clear there were not enough longshoremen at the time to staff extended shifts.
   The terminals rescheduled the implementation date for the first quarter of this year, but the complexity of setting up a system for collection, reimbursement and auditing gate moves forced the port facilities to move the implementation date to June 1.