Transportation Secretary Buttigieg Tours POLB
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Jan. 11, toured the nation’s largest port complex, including the Port of Long Beach, meeting with local officials while seeing firsthand efforts to deliver goods during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tour came as America’s maritime ports are set to receive an infusion of critical infrastructure funding, with $17 billion allocated for ports and waterways in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Secretary Pete Buttigieg praised the efforts of supply chain workers and the creativity coming out of the partnerships between the ports and the administration. He added good progress is being made as shown by the numbers on cargo movement, goods on shelves, and deliveries on time. Secretary Buttigieg said there is still more to do, and the $52 million grant for the POLB Pier B On-Dock Rail Facility will allow the port to move more goods, more quickly.
Tuesday’s visit included a boat tour followed by a press conference on the helipad at the port’s Joint Command and Control Center.
POLA Applauds Gov. Newsom’s Plan to Invest $2.3 Billion In California Ports
SAN PEDRO — Gov. Galvin Newsom Jan. 10, unveiled his 2022-23 state budget proposal, known as “The California Blueprint.” The proposed budget includes a planned record investment of $2.3 billion for California ports.
The Governor’s $2.3 billion plan for ports includes:
Port Infrastructure and Goods Movement: $1.2 billion for port-related projects that increase goods movement capacity on rail and roadways serving ports and at port terminals, including railyard expansions, new bridges, and zero-emission modernization projects.
Zero-Emission Equipment and Infrastructure: $875 million for zero-emission port equipment, short-haul (drayage) trucks, and infrastructure.
Workforce Training: $110 million for a training campus to support workforce resilience in the face of supply chain disruption and accelerate the deployment of zero emission equipment and technologies.
Commercial Driver’s Licenses: $40 million to enhance California’s capacity to issue Commercial Driver’s Licenses.
Operational and Process Improvements: $30 million for the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development to provide funding for operational and process improvements at the ports. This could include enhancing the movement of goods and improving data interconnectivity between the ports to enable efficient cargo movement, reduce congestion, and create opportunities to increase cargo volume by promoting and building supply chain efficiency
Details: www.ebudget.ca.gov/FullBudgetSummary.pdf
Container Dwell Fee’ On Hold Until Jan. 17
The Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles announced Jan 10, that consideration of the “Container Dwell Fee” will be held off another week, until Jan. 17.
The two ports have seen a combined decline of 45% in aging cargo on the docks since the program was announced on Oct. 25.
The executive directors of both ports will reassess fee implementation after monitoring data over the next week. Fee implementation has been postponed by both ports since the start of the program.
Under the temporary policy approved Oct. 29 by the Harbor Commissions of both ports, ocean carriers can be charged for each import container that falls into one of two categories: In the case of containers scheduled to move by truck, ocean carriers could be charged for every container dwelling nine days or more. For containers moving by rail, ocean carriers could be charged if a container has dwelled for six days or more. Currently, no date has been set to start the count with respect to container dwell time.