When it comes to Southern California logistics, there’s never a dull moment. The region is home to the busiest ports in the country, while the state continues to dramatically alter the way logistics gets done through an array of unique regulations. In this article, we’ll get you up to speed on some of the recent SoCal supply chain developments during the first half of 2019.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: we’re in the midst of a truck driver shortage.
While we may feel that we’ve reached the saturation point in hearing – and reading – about this shortage, the related headlines aren’t going away any time soon. That’s because the shortage isn’t going away any time soon. In fact, we can only expect to hear more about it as the impact to the trucking industry and the nation’s economy continues to worsen.
With logistics in California, one of the major areas where this impact is being felt is container drayage. The shortage of drayage drivers has recently returned to the headlines as there aren’t enough drivers to handle rising volumes in advance of tariffs and an interest rate hike. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at this shortage and what you, as an importer, can do to keep your drayage freight moving to and from the ports.
Does your logistics operation source drayage services in California? If so, read on as new legal developments in the state can put you on the hook for damages if the drayage provider you hire is misclassifying employees as independent owner/operators.
This latest shot across the bow in California’s labor battles comes in the form of California Senate Bill 1402 (SB 1402). The Bill was signed by Governor Brown on September 22, 2018 and will take effect on January 1, 2019. In this article, we’ll summarize the new Bill and explain what it means for shippers and other companies that hire port drayage companies in the state of California.
When considering all the costs involved in getting your containerized goods from port to market, it’s easy to think of all the “big” things that drive up your spend. These big-ticket items include your ocean carrier, drayage, and warehousing costs.
As your container makes its way through your supply chain, however, there’s a smaller – but cumulatively significant – cost that is likely eating away at your margins: the chassis rental fee. In this article, we’ll examine key ways to reduce this fee and improve the profitability of your operation.
Weber Logistics has opened a new port drayage facility in Long Beach, CA, less than 1 mile from the port. Situated within the Overweight Corridor, this new facility will handle Los Angeles and Long Beach port drayage services, as well as transloading, and weight reduction for overweight loads to make them compliant with California highway regulations.
There’s a new supply chain mantra in the post-Amazon era, and that mantra is SPEED.
Whether you are delivering to retailers or consumers, or both, customers want products faster in a more predictable time window.
If you import from Asia, your company has made a strategic decision to lengthen its supply chain to lower actual product costs. While you can’t control this decision, you can control how goods are transported and what happens once a container hits U.S. shores. It’s here that you can make a real difference to your company’s financial health by reducing supply chain cycle time and shrinking the cash cycle.
As container volumes at West Coast ports continue to increase year after year, it’s becoming more difficult to move those containers inland. The problem? Container drayage companies simply don’t have enough drivers to meet demand. And, when you are fortunate enough to secure dray capacity, you can expect to pay 10 to 15% more than you were just a few years ago.
When you are in the process of buying a house, what is most important? You always hear… Location! Location! Location! For many, location is the deciding factor. You want to be located in a spot that saves you time, money and allows you to accomplish necessary tasks. The same can be said when searching for a distribution solution. Depending on your needs, your solution may rest in the Inland Empire, near the border, in Northern CA or near the LA/LB ports.
Nearly one year has passed since labor negotiations began in May 2014 between the Pacific Maritime Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union. On February 20, 2015 they came to a tentative 5 year agreement. The ILWU membership voted on their tentative agreement May 22 and approved the contract. The five year contract, which is retroactive to July 1, 2014, will expire on July 1, 2019.
Looking back a year ago before the negotiations, teamsters picketing, chassis shortage and increased volumes… there was a standard “normal” in efficiencies. Vessel, yard and gate operations have been improving in recent weeks, yet have not returned to normal. Recent articles by the JOC discuss the expectations and challenges of the West Coast ports now and in the near future which can be summarized below:
Is getting back to "normal" a good thing?
Yes. Getting back to that “normal” is great because it means the ports are on the road to recovery. Since last fall there has been extreme congestion and backlog with a peak of 28 vessels at anchor waiting for a birth to open up. The Marine Exchange of Southern California reported, there were no vessels anchored for many days this month, which is a great sign of recovery. Part of this is due to the increase in ILWU man-hours, which were much higher in April, compared to last year. The terminals added around 60,000 man hours according to the PMA to clear the back log.
The Gray Chassis Pool allows truckers to pick up and drop off chassis at ANY of the terminals served by the three chassis pools. That’s right ANY of the twelve terminals. The project was launched on March 1st, 2015 by TRAC Intermodal, Flexi-Van Leasing and Direct Chassis Link.
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