Post by HardTimeTrucker on Oct 27, 2009 14:35:56 GMT -5
www.presstelegram.com/business/ci_13646206
On the Waterfront:
Cautious optimism on port traffic
By Kristopher Hanson, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/26/2009 07:00:42 PM PDT
Glimmers of hope have begun filtering through the gloom hanging over port commerce these days, with recent tallies showing imports inching upward as retailers slowly restock store shelves and warehouses after nearly two years of cutbacks.
The year is still forecast to end with the lowest total volume of containers handled since 2004 - a nearly 20 percent drop from the 2007 peak - but new figures indicate the string of 26 consecutive months of year-over-year decline may be drawing to a close.
If it holds, the forecast means steady work for local longshoremen, truckers, rail workers and others involved in trade through Long Beach and Los Angeles after a dismal year of cutbacks and layoffs.
The National Retail Federation expects imports to resume marginal month-to-month growth nationally in coming months, but like many economic reports of late, the news comes with some sobering caveats.
For example, instead of the 18 percent decline forecast for January 2010 (as compared to January 2009), the retail federation now expects only a 3 percent drop.
December will be flat from the year prior instead of the 2 percent decline predicted, Gold said.
November, meanwhile, will experience the usual 10 percent to 15 percent drop-off from the peak month of October, which is when retailers typically stock up for the holiday season.
Real growth is expected next year, but how early and how strong remains a subject of strong debate.
"As we move closer to the end of the year and get updated numbers, we're seeing a steady improvement with year-over-year declines becoming smaller," said Jonathan Gold, a NRF spokesman and expert on supply chains and global trade. "This doesn't mean that the challenges are behind us, but retailers are slowly starting to import more merchandise and that's a positive sign."
Meanwhile, a week after New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged Congress to amend federal law allowing local port authorities to reform trucking at the nation's commercial seaports, another big-city East Coast mayor has come out in favor of the controversial push to upend deregulation of a "flawed" port trucking industry.
Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter, whose district includes Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale - a hub of Caribbean cruise ship activity - has written letters to the Senate and House asking for amendments to the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act - a move supported by the Port of Los Angeles as it prepares to defend itself in court against against trucking companies, retailers and shippers favoring the current deregulated system.
Like most port communities, Port Everglades is served by an aging truck fleet (surveys estimate the average model year is 1994) of diesel-soot spewing big rigs owned and maintained primarily by small firms or independent truckers who either don't have the will or capital to purchase new fleets.
Supporters of the "Los Angeles Plan," as it's now known, want exemptions to federal law allowing them to sign exclusive agreements with firms promising to own and operate the cleanest truck fleets in coming years. Current law, first passed with the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 and later amended through the FAAAA, is unclear about this, leading to the current court battles between Los Angeles and industry.
"Port Everglades harbor trucking system is antiquated," Ritter wrote in an Oct. 23 letter to Florida Senators Bill Nelson, a Democrat, and Republican George LeMieux. "Poorly maintained vehicles, overweight containers and unsafe chassis are still much too prevalent among the trucks coming into and out of our port. Both residents and truck drivers have expressed their concern about the dangerous condition under which these trucks are required to operate. While the port is allowed to regulate motor vehicle safety under the current version of the FAAAA, we have no real enforcement powers."
Currently, most of the cargo hauled in and out of America's seaports by truck is carried by drivers relying on third-party contractors who pay them by the load. These independent owner-operator drivers are responsible for their own fuel, maintenance, insurance, tires and other costs.
The L.A. Plan - which is not supported by Long Beach - would upend the business model by getting rid of the independent drivers and making them employees by 2013 - a move favored by labor organizations and abhorred by retailers and shippers, who fear higher costs and less control.
kristopher.hanson@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1461
On the Waterfront:
Cautious optimism on port traffic
By Kristopher Hanson, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/26/2009 07:00:42 PM PDT
Glimmers of hope have begun filtering through the gloom hanging over port commerce these days, with recent tallies showing imports inching upward as retailers slowly restock store shelves and warehouses after nearly two years of cutbacks.
The year is still forecast to end with the lowest total volume of containers handled since 2004 - a nearly 20 percent drop from the 2007 peak - but new figures indicate the string of 26 consecutive months of year-over-year decline may be drawing to a close.
If it holds, the forecast means steady work for local longshoremen, truckers, rail workers and others involved in trade through Long Beach and Los Angeles after a dismal year of cutbacks and layoffs.
The National Retail Federation expects imports to resume marginal month-to-month growth nationally in coming months, but like many economic reports of late, the news comes with some sobering caveats.
For example, instead of the 18 percent decline forecast for January 2010 (as compared to January 2009), the retail federation now expects only a 3 percent drop.
December will be flat from the year prior instead of the 2 percent decline predicted, Gold said.
November, meanwhile, will experience the usual 10 percent to 15 percent drop-off from the peak month of October, which is when retailers typically stock up for the holiday season.
Real growth is expected next year, but how early and how strong remains a subject of strong debate.
"As we move closer to the end of the year and get updated numbers, we're seeing a steady improvement with year-over-year declines becoming smaller," said Jonathan Gold, a NRF spokesman and expert on supply chains and global trade. "This doesn't mean that the challenges are behind us, but retailers are slowly starting to import more merchandise and that's a positive sign."
Meanwhile, a week after New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged Congress to amend federal law allowing local port authorities to reform trucking at the nation's commercial seaports, another big-city East Coast mayor has come out in favor of the controversial push to upend deregulation of a "flawed" port trucking industry.
Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter, whose district includes Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale - a hub of Caribbean cruise ship activity - has written letters to the Senate and House asking for amendments to the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act - a move supported by the Port of Los Angeles as it prepares to defend itself in court against against trucking companies, retailers and shippers favoring the current deregulated system.
Like most port communities, Port Everglades is served by an aging truck fleet (surveys estimate the average model year is 1994) of diesel-soot spewing big rigs owned and maintained primarily by small firms or independent truckers who either don't have the will or capital to purchase new fleets.
Supporters of the "Los Angeles Plan," as it's now known, want exemptions to federal law allowing them to sign exclusive agreements with firms promising to own and operate the cleanest truck fleets in coming years. Current law, first passed with the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 and later amended through the FAAAA, is unclear about this, leading to the current court battles between Los Angeles and industry.
"Port Everglades harbor trucking system is antiquated," Ritter wrote in an Oct. 23 letter to Florida Senators Bill Nelson, a Democrat, and Republican George LeMieux. "Poorly maintained vehicles, overweight containers and unsafe chassis are still much too prevalent among the trucks coming into and out of our port. Both residents and truck drivers have expressed their concern about the dangerous condition under which these trucks are required to operate. While the port is allowed to regulate motor vehicle safety under the current version of the FAAAA, we have no real enforcement powers."
Currently, most of the cargo hauled in and out of America's seaports by truck is carried by drivers relying on third-party contractors who pay them by the load. These independent owner-operator drivers are responsible for their own fuel, maintenance, insurance, tires and other costs.
The L.A. Plan - which is not supported by Long Beach - would upend the business model by getting rid of the independent drivers and making them employees by 2013 - a move favored by labor organizations and abhorred by retailers and shippers, who fear higher costs and less control.
kristopher.hanson@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1461