L.A. launches rail incentive plan

L.A. launches rail incentive plan    The Port of Los Angeles said it will begin an intermodal container incentive program on May 1 that will pay shipping companies $20 per TEU for each additional container they bring into the port by rail that exceeds their 2008 level.
   Intermodal cargo accounts for slightly more than 40 percent of the total container volume at the nation's largest container port, and the new program is expected to cost $900,000.
   'Given the nation's current economic climate, we need to help our steamship lines,' said Port Executive Director Geraldine Knatz. 'Coupled with the recent rate reduction for our terminal operators, this new program will help the port remain competitive.'
   The new program comes on the heels of a program that took effect last month, and gave terminal operators a 10 percent discount on each container they transported to or from the port by rail. That program is retroactive to Jan. 1, and is expected to cost $13 million.