APL to move to LA’s TraPac terminal

Transpacific trade VP Jesper Stenback says APL is committing to truck turn times of 25 minutes for cargo pickup and 40 minutes for cargo pickup and equipment returns.    Container carrier APL announced Friday it is moving its Eagle Express X (EXX) service this month to the TraPac terminal in Los Angeles from Fenix Marine Services in an effort to reduce turn times and have better access to freeways.    “The TraPac terminal is ranked among the top three terminals with the best truck turn times in Los Angeles and Long Beach,” said Jesper Stenbak, senior vice president of APL’s transpacific trade, in the announcement. “Conveniently located for easy truck access to and from the major freeways, its location will facilitate quicker container pickup by truckers who will gain priority access of the EXX-exclusive gates.”    APL, which is part of the CMA CGM Group, said the terminal will be set up to deliver same-day cargo availability of EXX shipments on dedicated chassis and enable immediate drayage of EXX RailFlash containers to an off-dock rail facility for expedited transfers to Chicago, Memphis, Dallas and Kansas City. The TraPac terminal will also house an EXX-dedicated container yard designed for operational flexibility.    “APL has been consistently delivering above expectations with 99% of the containers on chassis and available for collection within just 12 hours of vessel discharge when the vessel arrived in LA each week,” Stenbak said. “Further, we are now committing to deliver a truck turn time of 25 minutes for cargo pickup and 40 minutes for both cargo pickup and equipment returns at TraPac, versus a 87-minute average recorded by the industry in Los Angeles and Long Beach.”    The 5,108-nominal-TEU APL Thailand is scheduled to make its maiden call at the TraPac terminal on June 18. The weekly EXX service calls ports in Ningbo, Shanghai, Los Angeles, Dutch Harbor, Yokohama and Busan. The service also will begin calling Honolulu every alternate week beginning Aug. 23.