The Port of Oakland’s four international marine terminals plan to operate terminal gates on Saturdays starting later this year. The terminals are participating in a new program called OakPass, designed to reduce congestion at the port during the work week.
“The Port of Oakland and the four international container terminals agree on the need for additional capacity to reduce congestion and accommodate future volume growth,” said John Cushing, president of OakPass. “After spending well over a year evaluating options including night gates, we determined that adding a Saturday gate is the most practical and cost-effective method to increase capacity in a way that meshes with availability of truck drivers and longshore workers and serves the entire supply chain.”
To pay for the program, the port plans to assess an Extended Gate Fee to the beneficial cargo owner of shipments entering or exiting the terminals between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. The fee will be $17 per 20-foot equivalent unit or $34 for a standard 40-foot container. The EGF will not be collected on Saturdays. Cargo owners will have to register with OakPass to pay the EGF before the program commences.