Long Beach Port authorities anticipate modest growth in the coming months — perhaps 3 to 4 percent — as global trade slowly recovers from the worst downturn in several decades. The expected turnaround comes as thousands of truck drivers, longshoremen, rail workers, customs brokers and others with jobs tied to port trade remain jobless in the wake of a crushing recession hammering cargo volumes at seaports across the nation. A port executive said the port will increase incentives for shippers, invest billions in infrastructure improvements and fend off aggressive competition. He said the port’s biggest challenge will be fighting competition from ports in places like Texas, Canada and Mexico, which have spent millions courting shippers and running advertisements depicting Long Beach and Los Angeles as unreliable, expensive and unreasonably environmentally minded.
