Big rigs are rolling in and out of the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports faster thanks in part to the wider use of a trucker appointment system, according to marine terminal operators that run the gate system.
So-called turn times, the minutes it takes for a trucker to pull into a terminal, load up or drop off a container and then hit the road, fell to below 40 minutes during May and June.
Created a little more than a decade ago to alleviate big-rig bottlenecks at the port, PierPass has come under fire for being too slow to improve congestion. Many who move products like shoes, flat-screen televisions and toys in and out of the port say trucks aren’t moving fast enough — and insist PierPass is part of the problem.
“I am comforted that the turn time has improved,” said Mario Cordero, chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission. “But the (terminal operations) are not predictable.”
For one, he said, it’s not always clear how late all terminals will operate, which poses a problem for shippers. Beyond that, he said, the turn times don’t include minutes spent waiting at the gate.
