Port of Oakland addresses congestion

Cargo volume has reached an all-time high at the Port of Oakland. The port said today that it handled the equivalent of 2.394 million 20-foot freight containers in 2014. That broke the record of 2.391 million boxes moved in 2006. A 20% surge in December loaded import containers contributed to the record performance.

“An unprecedented series of events has brought us to this point,” said Port Maritime Director, John Driscoll. “It’s our job now to efficiently manage the growth.”

The Port said three factors have contributed to the cargo surge:
• Stronger U.S. demand for Asian manufactured goods;
• Its own marketing efforts; and
• Cargo diversions from congested Southern California ports.

A freight backlog at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has rerouted thousands of containers to Oakland. Last month Oakland handled 74,356 loaded import containers. That was the most since May 2014.

The big buildup has temporarily slowed cargo throughput. A labor dispute between waterfront employers and dockworkers is magnifying the slowdown.

Port of Oakland spokesmen told LM in an interview, that there has been some longshore worker “slowdown” activity, however.

Ten-to-fifteen ships are anchored in San Francisco Bay daily awaiting berths at Oakland marine terminals. Some truckers report waits of several hours to pick up cargo. The condition is expected to persist until labor and management agree on a new contract.

The Port of Oakland said overall container volume – imports and exports – increased 2% in 2014. Import volume for the year increased 5.29%. The latter figure is important because the Port has made import growth a strategic business objective.