Container availability project advances

Container availability project advances    A pilot project to help agricultural exporters locate empty shipping containers has been deemed a success and may be expanded.
   The project by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Federal Maritime Commission and ocean carriers, was mentioned by FMC Chairman Richard Lidinsky in March to a House subcommittee.
   In response to an American Shipper query, the USDA issued a brief statement that the Transportation Services Division of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has “completed the initial phase of a pilot project with four cooperating ocean container carriers and six agricultural exporters to determine container availability at 18 select port and inland locations.
   “The project was successful and the participants have established the protocol for a data collection process that will allow transpacific shippers to better determine container availability during the reported week, as well as projections for two weeks into the future.”
   The Agricultural Marketing Service said it has initiated an approval process from the Office of Management and Budget, which is required before the new container availability data can be collected and published.
   Once that approval is obtained, the Agricultural Marketing Service said it “anticipates collecting container availability data from at least 10 ocean carriers that have volunteered to participate.” It said more information about the data and locations will be available once approval is granted.