Survey Shows Port, Shippers Terminal Efficiency

Strengthening Relationships, High-Tech Innovations Aim to Ease Cargo Movement

On a busy day, more than 800 semi-trucks go through the gate at the Port of Seattle's Terminal 18 to drop off containers for shipment or to pick up newly arrived containers. As one of the busiest ports in the United States, it's a scenario repeated countless times at each of the five container and two rail intermodal terminals in Seattle.

Truck movements are carefully choreographed to avoid congestion that frustrates truckers and commuters alike. But growing cargo volumes have the potential to cause delays, and forecasts for continued growth prompted the Port to spearhead an effort to improve efficiency on the waterfront.

The Port brought trucking companies, terminal operators, steamship lines and railroad operators together for a series of meetings last fall to identify the specific causes for cargo movement delays and to find solutions.

"We want to maintain and broaden our strong working relationship with our partners from the shipping, trucking, and rail industries," said Steve Sewell, Port Marine Division Managing Director.

"Nearly three-quarters of the cargo moving through Seattle is discretionary -- it's destined for somewhere else, and shippers don't have to bring their freight here," Sewell said. "Some of our advantages over other ports are the close proximity of our rail terminals to our ocean terminals, as well as our overall efficiency, lack of congestion, and desire to work with our partners."

Sewell said the Port has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into making its terminals modern and efficient. "The benefits of that investment are diminished if we can't continue improving the movement of cargo within our harbor," he said.

The Port commissioned Heffron Transportation, Inc., to study actual traffic conditions at six terminals. This benchmark efficiency study gives the Port, terminal operators, trucking companies, and railroad operators an accurate baseline of information.

The survey was performed between Jan. 24 and Feb. 14 of this year, with three peak days of data collected at six terminals -- four container and two rail. The intent was to document the time truckers wait in queue at each entrance gate, as well as how much time drivers spend within the terminals.

Heffron used time-lapse video recordings to chart wait times for drivers in queue. Video equipment was mounted near each gate, and a still image was taken every one to two seconds. Truck movements through the gate were then sampled to track the time between when the truck entered the queue and when it reached the gate clerk.

In conjunction with the traffic analysis, a truck driver opinion survey was also conducted. Drivers from 11 local and six out-of-town trucking firms were polled to assess truckers' perceptions about the terminals.

Changes have already taken place at some terminals as a result of this study and survey.

"Some terminals now have early gate openings, open gates during lunch hour, and have shifted staff during peak hours to lessen the peaks and valleys of traffic congestion," Sewell said. "When you slice the tops off of those peaks, you improve efficiency. We see steady growth in container shipping traffic over the coming years, and we need to take the steps now to ensure that this growth occurs as smoothly as possible."

Most terminals during the time of the study were meeting or exceeding the Port's harbor-wide goal of 30 minutes per transaction. "That's a reasonable turnaround time, and it allows truckers to make more turns daily," Sewell said.

Another possible cure for congestion could come from the high-tech sector. The Port plans to install webcams so that trucking companies will be able to access the Port's website, www.portseattle.org, and see real-time terminal conditions.

Also, terminal managers, shippers, and truckers can use a new web-based container tracking website, eModal.com, to help cut down on idle trucking time. Participating maritime shipping terminals upload container information to eModal, which provides a sorted and consolidated format for inquiries made for specific containers.