Ocean carriers realigned their partnerships last month to better manage costs. Now those ships are just arriving to the West Coast out of Asia and operating under these newly forged alliances. However, this quickly evolving industry is causing major slowdowns for the Port of Seattle.
At Terminal 18, the global shipping changes has meant clearing out old cargo containers to make way for the new, and that caused truck traffic to spike and spill out onto surrounding streets.
One solution is to discourage truckers from lining up along Spokane Street the night before so they can be first in line when the gates reopen. The port and Northwest Seaport Alliance may also open the receiving gates earlier, or even work weekend hours.
Similar trucking problems are taking place at Husky Terminal in Tacoma. Port officials hope to establish a new work flow to fix all this in the coming weeks.
