MTMC REDUCES PORT OPERATIONS COSTS 38 PERCENT FOR FISCAL 2003

MTMC REDUCES PORT OPERATIONS COSTS 38 PERCENT FOR FISCAL 2003    The U.S. Military Traffic Management Command, the surface transportation logistics unit for the armed forces, has reduced its port operations handling costs for the third consecutive year.
   Starting Oct. 1, Defense Department shippers will receive reduced port handling rates of about 38 percent for fiscal 2003.
   The rates were reduced by about 40 percent the previous fiscal year, and by 27 percent in fiscal 2001.
   “There are a lot of reasons for the cut, but most noteworthy is the efficiency of our command’s overall costs and operations,” said Steve Andrews, team leader for MTMC’s working capital fund. “This involves port costs for over-ocean shipments handled by any of MTMC’s 24 terminal units.”
   Defense Department shippers benefit from other cost reductions, such as a 15 percent reduction in the cost to ship cars in MTMC’s Global Privately Owned Vehicle Contract, and a 8 percent reduction in the cost on ocean container transport.
   “In all, we’re returning $77 million to our customers,” Andrews said.
“This will make our budget go a lot farther and help reduce the un-funded requirements we face each year,” said Nelson Chandler, chief of transportation and distribution policy of the Army’s G-4 staff at the Pentagon.
   Chandler said some of the savings will help the Army to better support its shift from heavy M1 tanks to more lighter, easily transportable wheeled fighting vehicles. “Reduced transportation costs serve to lower the cost of Army modernization programs when new equipment is fielded and existing equipment is redistributed,” Chandler said.
   It’s uncertain if MTMC will achieve a fourth consecutive cut in fiscal 2004. “The goal is to get our rates down as low as we can and hold on to them,” said Johnnie Fisher, chief financial officer for MTMC.