Given that China is the largest exporting nation to the United States, and the US West Coast seaports are the recipients of the majority of that trade, the US West Coast ports slowdown made for a catastrophic mess.
Logistics firms such as AIT Worldwide Logistics offered contingency plans for customers, such as re-routing cargo to Canadian and US East Coast ports with trucking available to all final US domestic destinations. Costs are incurred when re-routing cargo, although routing solutions that best fit customer needs are taken into consideration.
CaroTrans International, a global non-vessel operating common carrier (NVOCC) and ocean freight consolidator that offers global less-than-container-load (LCL) and full-container-load (FCL) services, began offering on March 16 new direct Shanghai import service to Seattle and Portland in the Pacific Northwest as a way to service bypasses Southern California port congestion in addition to its direct LCL services from Qingdao and Busan to Seattle.
In 2014, the Port of Seattle was the 4th-largest US port based on teus. China, Japan and South Korea are the Port of Seattle’s top three import trade partners, according to the Foreign Waterborne Trade Report 2013 by the US Maritime Administration.
Also in March, CaroTrans introduced an East Coast solution: a new all-water LCL import service from Shanghai to Atlanta via the Port of Savannah. The service takes 32 days transit, longer than the Trans-Pacific trade lane that can take around 11 to 14 days, but which took up to 50 days during West Coast port slowdowns. According to CaroTrans officials, the goal of the service is to offer an alternative to congested US West Coast gateways.
“We continuously adjust our global network to respond to customer demand,” said Greg Howard, CEO of CaroTrans. “With this new Shanghai to Atlanta service, we provide customers with an important alternative to congested U.S. West Coast gateways. “
The service is CaroTrans 67th direct Asia to US import service. Freight is deconsolidated at CaroTrans’ Atlanta CFS (container freight station). Expedited distribution services are available to Alabama, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee.
CaroTrans’ global network includes import services from Japan, Korea, Europe, the United Kingdom, India, Sri Lanka, Middle East, Oceania, South America and South Africa to the United States.
Besides offering dedicated, personalized service at origin and destination to support CaroTrans customers’ transportation needs, CaroTrans offers e-commerce tools that provide access to critical shipment data to ensure supply chains stay on track. These include EDI and Web-based tools, such as cargo tracking and online Freight Release which expedites cargo availability.
“As a global transportation provider, we must respond quickly to the needs of the marketplace. Whether it’s new, direct services or easy-to-use IT solutions that expedite cargo moves,” said Howard.
The Port of Savannah in the Southeast state of Georgia works well in the scheme given that the port receives 38 global carrier services weekly. Savannah is the only seaport on the US East Coast to receive ship calls from all G6 Asia services, nine of which transit the Panama Canal. It is also the only East Coast port that receives all 13 Suez services.
According to Georgia Port Authority (GPA) executive director Curtis Foltz, it’s not uncommon for the Port of Savannah’s Garden City Terminal to do over 20,000 moves in a day.
To help expedite container movement, the GPA board of directors approved in late September the latest phase of its container storage consolidation, a US$10 million project to increase truck gate capacity as well as storage area for the handling of empty and latent containers. This will add space for additional containers at the terminal.
Foltz sees this as critical given the consolidation of shipping lines and subsequently fewer, yet bigger ships. “Scale is important,” he said. “It’s not uncommon within this facility to do over 20,000 moves in a day. We have modelled and designed the facility to double the current capacity within this footprint.”
Last year, GPA also announced a US$80 billion purchase of four super post-Panamax cranes and 20 rubber tire gantry cranes for yard support.
Already, the port’s Garden City Terminal operates as largest single container terminal in North America. On terminal are two Class I railroads operated by Norfolk Southern and CSX. There’s over 3 million square feet of warehouse space available within 30 miles of the port. Plus, the port has immediate access to two major interstate highways: I-16, an east-west highway, and I-95, which travels north and south from Maine to the southern tip of Florida. Those highways make it possible for trucks to reach major markets such as Atlanta, Orlando and Charlotte in four hours.
In addition, the Port of Savannah offers the largest concentration of import distribution centres on the East Coast.
“Over 10 new distribution centre operations have opened recently near the port, taking advantage of our port facilities,” says Foltz. Last year, the total capacity of the distribution centre market totalled approximately 280,000 square metres. “The market has heated up significantly over the past two to three years,” he added. “I think this will continue as supply chain managers look not for not an exclusive switch of shipping their products to the East Coast, but for opportunities to service customers in Southeast.”
By Karen E Thuermer
Correspondent | Washington
