THE Virginia Port Authority has admitted that it is unable to keep up with the surge in truck volume that rose 13.5 per cent in December, sparking delays of up to four hours.
This comes as Virginia International Gateway at full capacity handled a record 2.3 million TEU last year.
The trend has prompted the port's maritime community to meet for a second time in three months to discuss new strategies to tackle congestion outside the port's container terminals, reported Newark's Journal of Commerce.
"The challenges we face today come from not having invested properly in modern conveyance systems. Now, we're behind," said port authority spokesman Joe Harris. "We're in a game of catch-up."
"Horrible is a great word for it," said Norfolk's Carroll Trucking boss Matt Carroll, commenting on the queues outside Norfolk International Terminals, the port's largest cargo facility.
Even at the semi-automated Virginia International Gateway, formerly APM Terminals' Portsmouth facility, Mr Carroll's trucks report turn times as long as four hours.
"When they opened APM up seven years ago, your longest wait was at the gate," Mr Carroll said. "Once you were in, you were in and out in 30 minutes. Now? Well, it's not the case."
Stakeholders are considering ways to address this problem, including improving truckers' access to chassis, simplifying policies on picking up and dropping off empty containers, increased use of off-peak hours, and better regulation of gate hours.
Fifty industry insiders attended the second summit, a three-hour brainstorming session in downtown Norfolk sponsored by the port authority and the Virginia Maritime Association.
The meeting opened with a 27-page presentation followed by a roundtable discussion. Two-thirds of the session was closed to the public.
The port authority has taken several steps to reduce turn times. These include reopening the long-shuttered Portsmouth Marine Terminal, creating a reservation system for truckers, and an overhaul of Norfolk International Terminals' software last summer.
In December the port implemented the second phase of its automated gate system at Norfolk International Terminals. The automated gates were pitched as a state-of-the-art advancement in efficiency.
Instead, Mr Carroll said, his trucks are now waiting in even longer lines outside the terminal. "They went automated and now you wait forever at the gate," he said. "You can wait an hour-and-a-half up to two hours."
The port is in need of more than incremental or ad hoc solutions, "It needs a full overhaul," Mr Carrol said. "They can't keep constantly changing the system around every few months."
But port CEO John Reinhart Moye said the port's problems are "complex," and that the port's resources are limited. "A lot of the corrections, a lot of the steps that need to be taken are not things that can be done overnight," he said. "They take time, they take capital, they take realignment of some processes."
Mr Moye sees progress, although, he concedes it may be incremental. "We're moving in the right direction," he said.
PORTS
04 February 2015 - 23:00
Virginia port plagued by inefficiency as truck waiting times rise
THE Virginia Port Authority has admitted that it is unable to keep up with the surge in truck volume that rose 13.5 per cent in December, sparking delays of up to four hours.
PORTS
04 February 2015 - 23:00
Virginia port plagued by inefficiency as truck waiting times rise
This news 9328 hits received.
These news may also interest you