Everport Terminal Services held a trucker outreach meeting on Wednesday, March 20, at the Fabulich Center in Tacoma. Here were the key takeaways:
Terminal congestion challenges:
- Over the past few weeks, a combination of various factors including import volume surge, vessel bunching, port-wide labor shortages and winter weather conditions have impacted terminal operations.
- No appointment systems are offered at this time.
- If a driver has been waiting in the transfer zone lane for more than 40 minutes with no response, have the dispatcher contact ETS terminal or yard gate mangers.
Short-term action:
- Hoot gates will continue Monday-Thursday (3 to 7 a.m.) until further notice. So far, the hoot gates have handled 150 to 300 moves per shift.
- During peak volume days, longshore staff will help direct traffic. Please note, hiring labor must be decided a day in advance.
- Saturday gates will be offered when two TPN vessels call in one week.
- ETS will increase communication to truckers about terminal conditions via eModal.
- Private gates are available for large accounts.
- Remember to update your eModal account so your RFID tag and license plate information match.
Mid-term action:
- Q2: Launch auto gate/pre-lodged information.
- Q3: Explore Real Time Location Sensors (RTLS) on container handling equipment to locate containers and improve inventory data.
- Q3: Install technology at each transfer zone lane to streamline communication within the terminal.
Next week’s vessel schedule:
- ETS is expecting a busy schedule with two TPN and two TPS vessels calling back-to-back, bringing similar volume as experience in late February. To handle the volume, ETS will block-stow some of the Ever Steady’s containers to keep the straddle carrier rows two-high. Block stowed containers will be cycled into the strad delivery rows at the end of each shift.
- March 27: Ever Summit
- March 29: Ever Steady
- March 31: Triton
- April 2: Cape Akritas