Pacific Maritime Association predicts 14% rise in West Coast traffic

Pacific Maritime Association predicts 14% rise in West Coast traffic    The Pacific Maritime Association is forecasting that U.S. West Coast ports will handle 14 percent more cargo this year, the port of Long Beach said.
   “The forecast was based on the individual projections of PMA members — domestic and international carriers and stevedores,” the Californian port reported in a monthly newsletter. “Last year, West Coast ports saw a 10.5 percent increase in cargo traffic.”
   The Pacific Maritime Association is the group of terminal operators that negotiates and oversees the labor agreements with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).
   The port of Long Beach said the PMA and the ILWU have increased the number of registered longshore workers at the San Pedro Bay’s Local 13 by nearly 50 percent, to 6,236 ILWU members, in the past year. The number of casual or part-time longshore workers also has increased by nearly 50 percent, to more than 6,000.