Beating port congestion

   This time last year anyone involved in America’s container trades was struggling to efficiently move an influx of inbound traffic out the marine terminals and into the country’s commerce.
   Some of this congestion could be blamed on the meltdown on the U.S. West Coast due the oft-contentious contract negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and its employers. However, it was more the result of a changing market dynamic toward bigger ships, increased container volumes and constrained shore-side infrastructure and cargo-handling assets to handle the trade on both coasts.
   In response, many of the country’s largest retailers diverted cargo around to different ports, formed chassis fleets, and used untapped drayage to try to combat the problem and sometimes came up against congestion nonetheless. Many shippers, however, didn’t even have this level of wherewithal and were simply stuck in the quagmire. That’s when the industry realized that it needed to work together to break through this congestion and get cargo moving efficiently once again.
   According to an American Shipper white paper on the topic this summer, “collaboration” became the mantra among shippers, carriers, logistics services providers and port authorities in an effort to better share information and best practices to end the container gridlock. Working groups were formed among port communities in Southern California and the Port of New York and New Jersey, for example, to devise and implement action plans that took into account all vested interests.
   Furthermore, as the white paper spelled out, there arose a great desire among the leaders of freight transportation companies, port operators and shippers for a regional and national dialogue to address data exchange, technology, risk management and operational best practices that are relevant beyond individual port regions. We’re not at this level of collaboration just yet, but it could happen if port congestion should raise its ugly head again.
   For now, the American shipping industry should be applauded for the collective action it took earlier this year to find meaningful ways to tackle congestion in our nation’s ports. It would have been easy to sit back and point fingers at one another.   
   What’s important now is to keep that collaboration going to prevent future port congestion, like we saw in late 2014 and early 2015. Big ships, dockworker labor contract disputes and spikes in inbound containers aren’t going away. Complacency is the shipping industry’s perpetual enemy and it seems to always take over when relative efficiency for moving freight is reached. That’s why it’s now more important than ever for the industry to remain engaged with these task forces and working groups at the nation’s key container ports for the next two to three years before we can truly say we beat port congestion.