Virginia port takes more steps to curb cargo backlog

Another round of operational changes was announced to reduce congestion at Virginia International Terminal.    The Port of Virginia is using a firehose approach to douse a congestion hotspot at its Virginia International Gateway terminal. 
   On Monday, port authority officials for the fourth business day in a row announced more quick fixes to address the cargo backlog at the semi-automated facility. Two snowstorms last month and higher cargo volumes in March have pushed a facility that was already operating near capacity over the edge, and port management is working furiously to reduce the density of container stacks so longshoremen and truckers can operate more efficiently.
   The Virginia Port Authority said it is now optimizing vessel arrivals at VIG to control inventory and better balance demand on resources. Some smaller vessels, for example, will berth at the nearby Portsmouth Marine Terminal.
   Virginia International Terminals, the port’s operating arm, is grounding select containers outside the stacks maintained by rail-mounted gantry cranes to reduce stack density and the amount of sorting required.
   The port will also maintain Saturday gate hours at VIG, NIT and the empty container yard through June 27. Portsmouth Marine Terminal will have Saturday gates on March 28. The port will maintain Sunday gate hours at VIG and the empty container yard through April 26. Any extension of Sunday gates will be re-evaluated at that time.
   Over the weekend, the port began using barges to reposition containers at the nearby Portsmouth Marine Terminal as well as transfer intermodal boxes between VIG and Norfolk International Terminal. VIG and NIT are on opposite sides of the Elizabeth River and are served by different railroads. Barges are the preferred mode for the repositioning because truck gates are swamped and truck drivers are experiencing long delays to turn through the facility.
   In the past week, the port authority has launched measures to free up more chassis and acquire additional ones, reduce free dwell time for containers, and segregate rail and truck cargo at VIG.