PierPass reaches 1 million truck milestone

PierPass reaches 1 million truck milestone    The PierPass program at the Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex has resulted in the shift of more than 1 million truck trips from the daytime to off-peak night and weekend hours since the congestion mitigation program was launched in late July, marine terminal operators said. PierPass hit the 1 million mark on Dec. 10.
   Between 30 percent and 35 percent of container cargo has been moved out of the port during off-peak hours, well ahead of the program’s goal to shift 15 percent to 20 percent of cargo from the daytime by the end of the first full year of operation. The program has already reached its projections for the second year of operation.
   Logistics professionals partly attribute the smooth flow of cargo through the nation’s largest import facility last year, compared with long cargo back ups in 2004, to the successful implementation of PierPass.
   As of mid-October, northbound truck traffic on Interstate 710 during peak hours had dropped an estimated 24 percent since the introduction of OffPeak, according to a study by the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority. On a typical day, more than 10,000 trucks use the new OffPeak shifts, PierPass officials said.