1. Repealing the Foreign Dredge Act [1] (or amending it to be compatible with friendshoring);
2. Mandating truck appointment systems (maybe even a centrally-run one, at least for each coast); and
3. Moving to a 24/7 default for our nation’s ports.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Dredge_Act_of_1906
Long story short: the container terminal will always opt to please their customer (shipping line) over their non-customer (trucking companies). Truck appointment systems are usually used to force transporters to smooth out peak times not in the name of efficiency, but rather to lower the amount of dock workers the container terminal needs to hire. The truck companies generally end up footing the bill for this, both in increased workload and in detention/demurrage costs because they can't get their containers out and back in time. This money goes directly into the pocket of both the shipping line and container terminals as this is typically something they make heavy profits on.
Be very wary when container terminals and shipping lines start to push for centrally mandated appointment systems. They are much more consolidated than hinterland transport operators. I'm all for increasing efficiency but let's not even further increase market power for shipping lines and container terminals please.
I’m confused. Efficiency means you don’t need to hire as much, since your peak-to-trough ratio is lower. Or you can handle more load, if you were capacity-constrained.
I don’t get why this is framed as a secret “other reason”.
My understanding is that shipping is a competitive market, is this not the case? If it is you expect price decreases to be passed on to customers.
Also while shipping is a competitive market, the market for ports is not. You're either in a location or not. There are not hundreds of container terminals in a single port in competition because of economies of scale.
(The market for trucking companies IS competitive however, meaning that if you have to err on 'protecting' either party, you should probably pick that one)
Sounds like you’re arguing against a port-run appointment system versus a system per se. When I said centrally-managed I should have said federal. It strikes me as analogous to ATC.
Planes can declare emergencies, they can divert to alternative locations, turn around for maintenance issues. And this is just IFR flights. VFR flights can take off, and once outside of controlled airspace, can just fly mostly however they want.
Your doctor takes appointments. That's a more apt analogy for what port appointments will create.
At the most congested airports slots are highly valuable, to the point where they’re often listed separately as part of an airline’s assets, and airlines will sometimes trade slots.
Many countries will fine airlines if they miss their slot time for reasons that aren’t related to emergencies or bad weather, as well as fine them for any other slot misuse such as hoarding, strategic cancellation, etc.
Now, sure, it’s not a case where if you miss the slot you can’t land or take off. The airport and ATC will always try to accommodate flights no matter what. But it usually means fairly substantial delays to avoid impacting on other take off, landing, and gate slots.
Also airlines have been given waivers since the early 2000s because the FAA realized that they were simply operating empty "ghost flights" merely to keep their slots allocated to them. So we just give them waivers every year so they don't waste fuel on this stupidity.
The ATC/FAA model is entirely inappropriate for ports.
Neither the UK nor the Netherlands choose to not enforce slot misuse. We’re not talking only about the US and the FAA as examples here.
Whether it’s an appropriate model for ports and especially truck traffic at ports is a different topic, one I’m not qualified to speak on. I was just pointing out the misconception on how airline traffic at airports works and how it’s certainly not just a first-come, first-served ad hoc model.
ATC’s role is to help manage the reshuffling when slots are missed, because there’s still finite landing and take off capacity at very busy airports.
In both cases it’s centrally managed, rather than a free for all.
I’d argue, of course, that when you file a plan, you’re requesting an appointment.
Which makes the present, in which the ILU's boss has almost turned being an asshole on the internet into an art form, politically expeditious.
Here's a video from the trucker's viewpoint.[1]
If the container terminal had to pay for the trucker's time from the moment they entered the queue to enter the port until they left the exit gate, there would be more active loading stations.
>However, despite these significant contracts [above], the Korean shipbuilding industry is facing a growing sense of crisis. According to industry sources on Oct. 3, out of the 191 container ships of 7000TEU (1TEU = one 20-foot container) or more ordered this year, China took 177, accounting for 92.7%. This shift has been particularly evident in recent large-scale container ship orders by global shipping companies, which have increasingly favored Chinese shipyards over Korean ones.
>The industry assesses that China is gaining the trust of global shipowners by successfully carrying out projects with low prices and quick delivery times. In fact, it is reported that there is no longer a significant difference in delivery schedules between Korea and China.[0]
To be clear, Korea is still a major player in shipbuilding (basically tied with China) and based on an article from last year[1] it seems that they focus more on other ships besides 7000TEU. It is probably impossible for the US to enter this market in any reasonable time frame and it would need government support like in Korea China and Japan. Even Japan, which was the largest player in the shipbuilding industry for decades has lost its marketshare to Korea and China. The costs saved by not being subject to the Jones Act probably don't make up for the cost of those ships. In 2013, US container ships costed 5 times as much as foreign ones, and it's probably more than that now.[2] Maintenance is another factor.
[0] https://www.businesskorea.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=...
[1] https://www.kedglobal.com/shipping-shipbuilding/newsView/ked...
> [1] Looking at upcoming deliveries, 20 dredgers are expected to join the global fleet in 2021
[1]: https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/news-insight...
https://www.construction-physics.com/p/why-the-us-cant-build...