Port of Long Beach to use vacant pier to relocate empty containers for next 5 months
The Port of Long Beach expects a “Temporary Empty Container Depot” planned for a vacant pier on Terminal Island to be open and operating in December, which will help to alleviate congestion at the docks, the company said in its press release.
The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners approved the use of 30 acres on Pier S for temporary storage of empty shipping containers. The temporary depot will help put back into circulation more chassis -- the wheeled trailer-frames that trucks use to haul cargo containers. Because many terminals are congested due to the current peak in cargo volume and have no room to accept empty cargo containers, more space is needed to temporarily store those empties. The temporary empty container storage depot will provide a location for truckers to deliver empty containers and remove them from a chassis, and then use the chassis to pick up loaded containers and haul them to their destination.
Ports around the U.S. have been experiencing higher cargo volumes as importers prepare for the holiday shopping season. At the local port complex, a new chassis ownership system has at times left terminals and truckers without the equipment they need.
The vacant Pier S site is currently being prepared to handle the incoming empty containers, and will be ready for use in December.
Pasha Stevedoring and Terminals, a private company, will be the operator. The plan is to close the site by March 31, 2015.
“Clearing up the congestion is our top priority at the Port of Long Beach,” said Jon Slangerup, Port of Long Beach Chief Executive. “We are confident that utilizing Pier S as an empty chassis yard will expedite this process and create the opportunity to move and allocate chassis to the terminal operators and truckers.”
In addition to the depot, the Port has identified a plan to operate its own chassis fleet for peak cargo shipping seasons and peak demand. Long Beach also facilitated the introduction by private chassis fleets of an additional 3,000 chassis into the local area.
