Port of Oakland handling diverted Los Angeles/Long Beach cargo

The Northern California port says it has an adequate supply of chassis, is seeking ‘first port of call’ services from Asia.    Port of Oakland officials are seeing cargo volumes climb “as shippers divert cargo north to avoid severely congested Southern California ports. Oakland terminal operators said they’re handling hundreds of additional containers weekly originally intended for Los Angeles or Long Beach,” according to the port.
   The port said an “Asian-based container shipping line will divert one of its vessels next week, with Oakland as a first port of call replacing Los Angeles. That means the vessel will make Oakland its first West Coast stop for discharge of imports from Asia.” The carrier was not identified.
   It said shippers have “expressed their approval of first-call service in Oakland. It would assure faster delivery of cargo intended for Northern California as well as cargo moving to inland destinations.” 
   In a press release issued Thursday, Oakland said it is not experiencing the congestion delaying cargo in Southern California, that it has a satisfactory supply of chassis, and that capacity has been bolstered by new cargo-handling equipment. 
   The Port of Oakland said during a meeting with importers and exporters it was told it has an opportunity to increase container cargo volumes, but that the port needs “to prepare by optimizing cargo movement and minimizing bottlenecks.”
   In the press release, the port said “that was the message from major U.S. importers and exporters this week at a two-day customer forum.” It said 10 well-known retailers, manufacturers and freight forwarders took part in the event, which was designed to gauge customer attitudes and solicit feedback on ways to make the port more efficient.
   The press release quoted Joel McClure, director of international logistics import/export compliance at Restoration Hardware, as saying Oakland “is in a very strong position to handle additional cargo, but the port will need to increase hours of operation with additional gates.”
   Oakland said it is gearing up for a likely increase in containerized cargo, and noted its September cargo-handling volume was the highest in more than a year. In the first nine months of 2014, import containers loaded with cargo are up 3.6 percent to 630,888 TEUs, but export containers loaded with cargo are down 3.1 percent to 729,741 TEUs. Oakland also handles empty containers, and those volumes are up 18.1 percent to 243,291 TEUs. 
   “Shippers expressed their approval of first-call service in Oakland. It would assure faster delivery of cargo intended for Northern California as well as cargo moving to inland destinations,” the port said.
   But the port said they also asked for quicker trucker turn-times in and out of Oakland marine terminals and for terminals to operate longer hours.
   The port said some terminal operators have indicated that trucker waiting time has improved in the second half of 2014 and said “some facilities have introduced nighttime truck gates and extended hours of operation. At least two have adopted express lanes that get imports out the door in as little as 15 minutes.”