Port of Charleston moves to common gates

Port of Charleston moves to common gates    The South Carolina State Ports Authority said it would streamline container operations in the Port of Charleston by moving to a single-gate operating system at all terminals, effective Jan. 18.
   It said the change would result in uniform processes and operations across all container terminals.
Charleston Gate LLC, a company created by local stevedoring companies and contracting with the port authority, will operate at the port's three container terminals for all container interchange lanes where trucks are checked in and out.
   At the same time it said the port authority would assume management and operation of all container storage yards and leads all customer service functions in both the yard and the lanes.
   Previous 'licensed user' arrangements (APM-Maersk, Ceres-Evergreen and Ceres-CKYH) will end, and those operations    will be incorporated into the new common gate operation.
   The port said Charleston Gate will staff inbound and outbound truck gates with members of International Longshoremen's Association Local 1771, who currently man licensed user gates, and ILA Local 1422A will continue to provide on-terminal container and chassis maintenance services.
   Private companies will continue to provide vessel stevedoring using ILA Local 1422 labor, and port authority employees will continue to operate all container-lifting equipment in the yard and on the dock and will manage all storage yards.
   The port said the change will “simplify and consolidate all gate and terminal processes. Charleston will now feature common hours of operations and bring extended gate hours of 7 a.m to 6 p.m. to all terminals. Cargo cutoffs, holidays and procedures at container terminals will be similar, and the port said the changes will boost port capacity by at least 10 percent. ' Chris Dupin