Tough decision to be made by the Federal Maritime Commission

The Port of Oakland wants Saturday operations at its marine terminals. But, like the shippers who oppose the idea, officials here are worried about some of the complications.

That was the message Executive Director Chris Lytle delivered this week in a letter to the Federal Maritime Commission.

Lytle maintains that opening terminal gates on Saturdays could ease congestion and improve efficiency in Oakland. But he admits that there are caveats:

*A labor shortage that has slowed vessel loading operations must be resolved; and

*The fee to fund Saturday operations must be reasonable and used exclusively for those operations.

“The Port strongly supports additional gate hours,” says Lytle. “There are, however, several points for the Commission to consider.”

Lytle’s letter was in response to plans by Oakland marine terminal operators to open their gates on Saturdays. The proposal, currently under Commission review, could ease weekday terminal crowding by adding a sixth day of work.

Oakland terminals are already open on weekends for vessel operations, but rarely for other activities. The new arrangement would open terminals every Saturday for full operations, including gate entry. That would enable harbor truckers to pick-up containerized imports for delivery, drop-off exports or return empties.

The port doesn’t operate marine terminals. But it favors Saturday hours as part of a broader plan it developed to speed up cargo delivery. That plan includes offsite locations to collect empty containers and a common pool of container chassis for harbor truckers.

A labor shortage that has reduced productivity this summer is being addressed, say port spokesmen. They added, however, that more dockworkers are needed to ensure Saturday operations are successful.

The port called for a review of the Saturday program after one year of operation.