Port of Long Beach
Posted by Bud Jackson
on Apr 24, 2016
Port of Long Beach
Art Wong, Assistant Director of Communications at the Port of Long Beach (POLB), gave a very informative and spirited presentation regarding the Port of Long Beach. Art has been with the Port for 13 years and prior to that he worked for the Press Telegram as a business section reporter for 12 years. He and his wife live in Temple City and they have two grown daughters. Art enjoys playing basketball and is an avid Laker fan.
Art told us the objective of the POLB is to move goods into and out of the country. He explained what caused the epic gridlock that backed up cargo last year. Companies that operate in the port had owned their own chassis (Trucks use these to transport container boxes) and decided that they no longer wanted to own these and in a cost savings move they sold them to leasing companies. Mass confusion ensued, it took months to sort out the problems and in the meantime the cargo ships backed up. We all saw them lined up all the way past Huntington Beach.
The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have resolved these issues and this year is handling the largest volume of cargo since 2007. July and August are the busiest months because of holiday goods arriving at the port. 40% of all cargo in the United States goes through the ports of LB and LA. The United States imports 2.5 times more goods than we export. Trains carry two thirds of the containers that arrive at the POLB to the rest of the country, about half of that is never on a truck. Some trains are able to transport as much freight as 750 trucks and do it cheaper and cleaner. The other third is shipped by truck to its destination.
The cargo ships continue to get larger. The Benjamin Franklin was recently in port, it is 20 stories high, 4 football fields long and 12 freeway lanes wide. The new Gerald Desmond Bridge is being constructed to accommodate these large ships. The new bridge will have a 200 foot clearance (depending upon the tides). It will be higher than the Vincent Thomas Bridge by about 20 feet. Depending upon the size of the cargo ship, the POLB services about six ships at a time.
The POLB is investing 1.5 billion dollars in the development of the middle harbor. When completed it will be the world’s most advanced terminal. It will be highly automated with almost all of the cargo shipped without being touched by human hands. The robots never show up late, get sick, take vacations or go on strike and they are willing to work 24/7.
Art Wong on left shown here with president Dean. More Newsworthy Notes . . .
Luis Baez of Diversified Investors Agency was a first time visitor. Welcome Luis.
Great to see Linda Timmons and Jim Schreiber back at Rotary.
Greg Buckner was proud to report that PHS was named one of the top high schools in the country. He also said that PHS students may make an impact at UCI since 47 of them have been excepted. FYI last years graduation rate was 92%.
Buddy Jackson spun the wheel to acknowledge his grandson's, John Kerlagon, 21st birthday. He also reported on his motorcycle ride with Duane (Big-D) Mahan to Lake Isabella.
Beatrice and Oscar won the raffle prizes.