PierPass surpasses 2-million-truck mark

PierPass surpasses 2-million-truck mark    PierPASS Inc., the nonprofit organization that administers the extended hours gate fee program in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, said Thursday that more than 2 million truck trips have been diverted from peak daytime traffic since the start of the OffPeak program in July 2005.
   OffPeak achieved its 1-million-truck-trips milestone in December 2005.
   Under the OffPeak program, all international container terminals in the two adjacent ports have established five new shifts per week (Monday through Thursday from 6:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.). As an incentive to use the new OffPeak shifts, a so-called Traffic Mitigation Fee is now required for most cargo movement during peak hours. The TMF is a financial assessment to finance the labor and operational costs of the additional OffPeak gates.
   Since the start of the program, from 30 percent to 35 percent of container cargo at the ports has moved during the new OffPeak shifts on a typical day. In recent weeks that percentage has surpassed 35 percent, far exceeding initial expectations for the program, PierPass officials said.
   'The OffPeak program demonstrates the willingness and ability of the goods movement industry to make important changes in business processes to benefit port communities and address operational issues,' said PierPASS President and Chief Executive Officer Bruce Wargo in a statement. 'OffPeak is giving stakeholders a window of opportunity to develop a regional goods movement strategy, including long-term infrastructure solutions.'