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Congestion at N.Y. & N.J. Ports
A number of variables have contributed to the increase of congestion that is causing a strain at the New York-New Jersey container terminals.
Shippers have sought alternatives to avoid the disruption of the heavily congested West Coast ports by routing shipments through East Coast ports. This has caused the New York-New Jersey terminals to be overwhelmed with higher than normal volumes while waiting for the West Coast longshore contract to be approved.
As a result of this, port truckers endure hours-long turn times in dealing with one to two of the port’s five major terminals daily. These delays occur on the cusp of vessel arrivals that discharge several thousand import containers that must be channeled through truck gates during weekday hours.
Drayage drivers have reported to waiting in lines three miles or longer. In order to catch up on backlogs, the Port Newark Container Terminal and GCT Bayonne have planned to open their truck gates on Saturday.
Another part of the problem that is causing these issues at the New York-New Jersey ports are the container-line alliances, and in particular, the new 2M alliance of Mediterranean Shipping Co. and Maersk Line. This vessel sharing agreement was been put into place in early 2015 as carriers make efforts towards better utilizing capacity.
PCNT has been overwhelmed by the increase of volumes caused from 2M ships and have had to divert several of these vessels to the neighboring Maher Terminal. Workers at the terminals are unable to catch up to these volumes regardless of the velocity of their work.
Revised carrier alliances which have brought the arrival of unplanned “sweeper ships” carrying cargo that normally goes to the West Coast, have left other terminals scrambling to find a way to deal with the volume growth in light of a bolstering economy. New York-New Jersey’s January volume of 463,002 full and empty TEUs was up nearly 8 percent from a year prior.
GCT Bayonne handled an extra loader that was the first 10,000 TEU vessel to call on the East Coast. This terminal is the only major one on the East Coast that is unaffected by the 151-foot vertical clearance under the Bayonne Bridge.
While larger ships have more capacity, they also tend to discharge a higher percentage of it on a single call at a load center port. This creates problems for port terminals with limited ability to handle container storage. Truckers can return some empties to off-dock depots which eases pressure at the terminals, but creates an extra stop and with that, increased wait times due to another long line.
The wait times and lines the truckers endure are frustrating for their business because most port drivers are owner-operators who are paid by the trip. Drayage companies with employee drivers are absorbing additional costs to pay drivers during these varying wait times. The Federal Maritime Commission asserts that terminals must pay detention charges when a drivers’ turn time exceed certain lengths. However, this detention charge only covers waiting time inside terminals and does not include time spent waiting on the streets outside terminal gates. Drayage companies are finding it hard to employ new drivers due to these extraordinary circumstances.
While the hope is that the East Coast congestion will clear up a bit as the West Coast eases, this may not be the case due to the influx of incoming cargo.
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As always, we will closely monitor the situation and provide you with periodic updates. We thank you for your understanding and continued support. Please do not hesitate to contact your customer service representative if you have any questions or concerns.
Thank You,
The CargoTrans / MariTrans / DFS Team
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