The Port of Oakland is extending a temporary program subsidizing evening and Saturday gate hours, saying the longer daily schedule is the only way to keep cargo moving through the port.
Port officials said the extended hours allowed the port’s largest terminal, Oakland International Container Terminal, to handle as many as 600 additional transactions a day and 1,200 on Saturdays. “The old way doesn’t work any longer,” Executive Director Chris Lytle said in a statement.
Federal Maritime Commission Chairman Mario Cordero said in a recent interview that more container terminals will have to go to longer and even round-the-clock operations to handle the surge of containers that will come as bigger ships reach U.S. ports.
“Vessels load and unload around the clock and that window for them is three to five days, so our coverage at terminals is going to have to be a 24/7 operation,” Mr. Cordero said.
