A recent report on the time trucks spend at the Port of Long Beach made recommendations to improve efficiency, including reviewing the Traffic Mitigation Fee structure.
The Truck Turn Time Stakeholder Group, which includes trucking company representatives, was formed last year to address concerns about visit times and commissioned the study. It evaluated truckers’ time at the port, including how long they waited outside the gates and in queues.
The port uses fees as an incentive for truckers to use off-peak shifts and to cover costs of extra shifts added in recent years. The $100 per container fee is required for most cargo movement during peak hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The researchers recommended reconsidering the “all-or-nothing aspect” of the fee to minimize queue congestion immediately before 6 p.m.
They also advocated the port review management of one-hour breaks to minimize productivity gaps. Carriers can reduce wait times by avoiding breaks and shift changes and arriving during underutilized hours.
The study also indicated that:
- Majority of visits take less than two hours.
- About 91% of queue times were less than an hour.
- Daytime visits are shortest for trucks that arrive at 3 p.m.
- The queue and visit time measurements include a significant proportion of visits involving two transactions, which typically are dropping off an empty container or picking up a loaded container.
The study’s executive summary is available at: http://pierpass.org/turn-time-study/613-2/.