NY/NJ Port’s 24/7 Goal Will Take ‘Many Years’
The supply chain got turned on its head so rapidly throughout the Covid-19 pandemic that major U.S. ports are now rethinking their shift schedules years in advance.
The Port of New York & New Jersey is already taking steps to go to a 24/7 operating schedule years down the line as more cargo shifts to the East Coast, said port director Beth Rooney during the National Retail Federation (NRF) Big Show on Sunday.
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Currently, the terminals typically operate from Monday through Friday, opening at 6 a.m. and closing anywhere from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. But according to Rooney, “we can no longer do that.”
The port is currently in the process of designing a framework for going to a 24/7 operation that will take “many, many years” and involve many phases, she said.
“Perhaps the next phase is a second shift,” Rooney said. “Then we can add a consistent Saturday shift and eventually we’ll get to a 24/7 operation.”
The Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on supply chains wasn’t just a headline grabber. The level of cargo volume that the Port of New York & New Jersey moved in 2022 was not forecast to occur until 2030, according to Rooney. That year, the port moved a record $9.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), a 5.7 percent jump over the year prior and a 25.1 percent increase over 2020 numbers.
“[The pandemic] gave us a view that we cannot continue to do things the way that we have historically been doing things, because the congestion that results from that just is untenable,” Rooney said. “We’re focusing quite significantly on going to the far end of the supply chain, to the warehouses and distribution centers to understand what happens there, and what makes them tick before working our way back to the port.”
Roger Guenther, executive director at Port Houston, agreed with Rooney that “we have to use our terminals 24/7.” But that goal has been hampered by the fact that there was limited participation when the port experimented with Saturday and Sunday openings during the peak congestion of the pandemic, he said.
Guenther emphasized the importance of infrastructure, saying that data sharing is vital to the constant movement of goods. While Port Houston currently leverages API connections with truckers, carriers and logistics providers alike, he still feels data isn’t being utilized to its full potential in getting a better read on vessel ETAs.
“When talking about visibility, our challenge is, it doesn’t go far enough,” Guenther said. “I understand shippers have proprietary information, but as I tell people, just to put in perspective, the biggest commodity that we have at Port Houston is 40-foot containers, and the next largest commodity is 20-foot containers. When there’s challenges, I have no idea whose cargo it is.”
Ahead of the pandemic, Port Houston sought to retain at least 20 percent or more extra capacity in the event of excess impending cargo demand. But even this was too low of a projection as ports across the U.S. saw elevated congestion in 2021 and 2022. Guenther said the terminals ended up needed an extra 30 percent capacity, which only got tougher to handle as containers started dwelling at its terminals.
Container dwell times down in 2023
The quicker throughput of containers at global ports in 2023 has been a major positive in the post-pandemic era. Recent data from supply chain visibility and collaboration platform Beacon illustrates that ports have been clearing out containers quicker since the start of last year.
Container dwell times at 71 percent of analyzed ports improved between January and December last year, with Southeast Asian ports among the top cargo movers when it comes to alleviating congestion.
Southeast Asia outperformed China for much of the year with congestion times—which Beacon defined as the combination of vessel anchor and berth times—averaging 1.2 days in comparison to China’s 1.3-day congestion. The performance aims to solidify the region’s position as an alternative manufacturing hub.
Overall, all regions within Asia except the Indian subcontinent (1.7 days of total congestion) track below the global averages of 1.5 days over the course of 2023.
Trans-Pacific hubs on the North American West Coast continue to struggle with congestion, with combined anchor and berth times averaging three days in 2023, the highest of all regions tracked.
Central and South American ports experienced an average of 1.3 days’ worth of congestion, while European ports saw similar anchor and berth times at 1.4 days.
The Middle East and North Africa saw congestion relief beginning in August—when containers sat for 1.7 days—through to the end of the fourth quarter, when congestion times dipped to 1.1 days on average.
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