Port of Virginia container volumes slip for second straight month

The mid-Atlantic port saw throughput of containerized cargo fall 0.7 percent year-over-year in February 2018 following a 3.5 percent decline in January caused in part by the loss of workdays due to severe winter weather.    Port of Virginia terminals handled 218,729 TEUs of containerized cargo in February 2018, a decrease of 0.7 percent from the same month a year ago, according to the most recent data from the mid-Atlantic port.
   Loaded container imports grew 3.6 percent to 100,370 TEUs compared with February 2017, but were offset by a 4.3 percent slide in laden exports to 82,104 TEUs. Inbound empty container volumes plummeted 70.8 percent to 2,099 TEUs for the month, while outbound empty container volumes rose 12.2 percent to 34,156 TEUs.
   Volumes handled by the Virginia Inland Port (VIP) and Richmond Marine Terminal (RMT) were up 4 percent to 2,885 containers and 45 percent to 2,541 TEUs, respectively. Total barge traffic rose 1 percent to 3,949 boxes, rail volumes 3 percent to 46,434 intermodal units, and breakbulk cargo 11.4 percent to 13,527 tons, while truck containers declined 4 percent to 72,537 boxes and vehicle volumes slid 27 percent to 1,551 units.
   The February decline follows a January in which box volumes dropped 3.5 percent due in part to the loss of two full workdays because of severe winter weather.
   Despite the two consecutive months of year-over-year decreases in container cargo, throughput a the Port of Virginia is still up 3.8 percent at nearly 1.9 million TEUs during the first eight months of the port’s fiscal 2018 year, which began in July 2017. 
   “February is a short month and our volume was relatively static, in a year-on-year comparison,” John F. Reinhart, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority (VPA), said of the results. “January featured two snowstorms, which had an impact on our performance, yet we continue to perform in-line with our fiscal-year volume forecast. We are expecting volumes to increase as we move into spring and summer, so we are focusing consistent delivery of service and managing the growth and construction at Virginia International Gateway (VIG) and Norfolk International Terminals (NIT).”
   The Port of Virginia on March 1 officially launched the first phase of implementation for its new motor carrier appointment system, dubbed the “PRO-PASS Trucker Reservation System (TRS),” in an effort to improve overall cargo efficiency.
   The first phase of the PRO-PASS TRS rollout will take place at NIT, which will be followed by VIG some time this summer. In this initial phase, motor carriers calling NIT between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m., Monday through Friday, must have a reservation, and the port has said it plans to add more mandatory hours once the trucking community adjusts to the new TRS.
   In addition, the port is expanding hours of operation at its truck gates, shifting more vessel services to Portsmouth Marine Terminal, and deploying eight new diesel-electric shuttle trucks to VIG on Feb. 28 in an effort to increase velocity.
   “Our performance at the gates is not meeting our standards,” said Reinhart. “As a result, the motor carriers are feeling the impact. The motor carriers have voiced their concerns and we have listened. We are committed to restoring service levels and managing through the construction.
   “We anticipated the challenges, and on a monthly basis starting in April, we are bringing new capacity on line that will help to alleviate the situation,” he added.