The West Coast port has received more than $50m to towards its on-dock rail support facility – and announces postponement of container dwell fee until at least 27 December.
The Port of Long Beach has been awarded a $52.3m grant from the US Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration to help fund development of the Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility.
This will enable the nation’s second-largest seaport to move more cargo by train, improving efficiency and lessening environmental impacts.
The planned project is the centrepiece of the Port of Long Beach’s $1bn rail capital improvement programme. Moving cargo by on-dock rail – directly transferring containers to and from marine terminals by train – is cleaner and more efficient, as it reduces truck traffic. No cargo trucks will visit the facility. Instead, smaller train segments will be brought to the facility and joined together into a full-sized train.
“This is great news to hear at the end of what will be our busiest year ever,” said Mario Cordero, Port of Long Beach Executive Director. “We appreciate the US Department of Transportation’s support for this important project. It will help to move cargo more efficiently through the port, getting needed products and goods to homes and businesses across America faster.”
MARAD’s Port Infrastructure Development Program is providing the grant. The funding from the programme is specifically designed for capital improvement projects at US seaports.
“Our federal partners have recognised the need to modernise the port and support our push toward 24/7 operations,” said Harbor Commission President Steven Neal. “These investments have benefits from coast to coast since cargo from the Port of Long Beach reaches every congressional district.”
Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility construction is set to begin in 2023. The first arrival, departure and storage tracks are expected to be completed in 2025, with additional tracks coming online in 2030, followed by project completion in 2032.
Dwell fee decision on 27 Dec
In the meantime, the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles have announced the Container Dwell Fee will be postponed until at least 27 December.
Since the fee was announced on 25 October, the twin ports have seen a combined decline of 46% in ageing cargo on the docks. The executive directors of both ports will reassess fee implementation after monitoring data over the next week.
Under the temporary policy approved on 29 October by the Harbor Commissions of both ports, ocean carriers can be charged for each import container that falls into one of two categories: In the case of containers scheduled to move by truck, ocean carriers could be charged for every container dwelling nine days or more. For containers moving by rail, ocean carriers could be charged if a container has dwelled for six days or more. Currently, no date has been set to start the count with respect to container dwell time.
The ports plan to charge ocean carriers in these two categories $100 per container, increasing in $100 increments per container per day until the container leaves the terminal.
Before the pandemic-induced import surge began in mid-2020, on average, containers for local delivery remained on container terminals under four days, while containers destined for trains dwelled less than two days.
Any fees collected from dwelling cargo will be reinvested for programs designed to enhance efficiency, accelerate cargo velocity and address congestion impacts.
The policy was developed in coordination with the Biden-Harris Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, US Department of Transportation and multiple supply chain stakeholders.
Source: Lloyd’s
