The need to pull together

The battle for the state’s containerised trade continues to intensify with California’s major ports, including Oakland, Long Beach and Los Angeles, having to evolving rapidly to maintain a competitive edge.

Oakland now wants Sacramento’s help in allocating infrastructure funding along priority trade corridors to keep containerised trade from going elsewhere.

“Challenges to our business are everywhere – Mexico, Canada, the US East Coast,” said Chris Lytle, executive director, Port of Oakland. “We’re doing all we can to keep Oakland and other California ports the most attractive option for international shippers, but we can use your help.”

California ports are major contributors to US jobs and the economy but their share of containerised imports and exports declined in 2015. The drop was largely due to wintertime labour-management disputes and aggressive marketing from out-of-state and international competitors.

So they’ve had to increase their competitiveness said California Association of Port Authorities Executive Director Tim Schott. For example, Oakland is finalising plans that range from extended hours to offsite cargo pick-up locations.

Port executives are urging the Legislature to make ports a statewide priority and for now it looks like it might be listening. A special legislative session devoted to transportation is currently underway in Sacramento.

Senators and Assembly members are looking at ports, goods movement and their impact on the state’s economy in order to tackle issues ranging from trade corridors to transportation funding and the competitive challenges facing California’s freight transport sector.