From ‘Truckers, longshore workers to clock more hours as LA, Long Beach ports try to reduce cargo backlog‘ in The Daily Breeze:
The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will expand terminal gate hours for truckers, and nighttime and weekend hours for longshore crews in an effort to get freight moved out more quickly as a more than yearlong cargo surge has left dozens of ships waiting outside the harbor.
The measures are the first step toward reaching a 24/7 supply chain, which would ideally have to extend to warehouses and rail companies as well to fully address what is a chain-wide, coast-to-coast logjam, said Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero.
But questions remain on exactly how — and when — the full port-wide implementation could roll out, one stakeholder said.
Longshore workers are often praised by both port chiefs for putting in long hours and increasing productivity as the surge has played out. ILWU shifts start at 8 a.m., 6 p.m. and 3 a.m., with the third one — known as the “hoot” shift — not usually fully manned, according to the union contract.
ILWU Coast Committeeman Frank Ponce De Leon said workers “welcome the opportunity” for “extended gate and weekend hours.” Worker contracts, he added, already allow employers to hire workers for the third (3 a.m.) shift to provide cargo movement around the clock.
“Dockworkers have been breaking records moving more cargo than ever at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach,” he said, “and this move by the port directors will work only if others in the supply chain step up to the challenges.”