American port productivity falls just when efficiency becomes vital

    COMPLAINTS rose up at the recent Journal of Commerce Port Productivity Seminar in Newark with delegates saying American harbours fall far short of efficiencies needed in today's mega ship age.

　　"Carriers can save up to US$50,000 per day if they get better service at terminals," said Felix Kasiske, partner at HPC Hamburg Port Consulting.

　　Said MSC vice president Christopher Parvin: "Is port productivity in the US acceptable? No. We waste three hours per ship just waiting for labour to start."

　　Mr Parvin, MSC's Americas marine operations chief, said the average number of moves per MSC vessel while in port has increased 30 per cent in the last five years, but US port productivity has not kept up.

　　The average time an MSC ships stays in a US port is 32.5 hours, down 0.1 per cent from 32.6 hours in 2009, said Mr Parvin, who added that labour costs and terminal fees are rising faster than increases in productivity.

　　"If we can't improve our productivity, we are going to run out of berth space in our ports," said Thomas Ward, senior maritime planner at Parsons Brinckerhoff. "And if we run out of berth space, we lose competitiveness."

　　Said Mr Parvin: "Deploying more trucks to load or unload a mega-ship's cargo is becoming difficult because we are nearing the limit of the number of trucks we can put on one pier."

　　Said South Carolina Port Authority CEO Jim Newsome: "We have to work better with truck drivers to reduce their turn times. Five-hour turn times are not acceptable. We need to nurture and respect the truckers, because if we don't, we won't have that resource."

　　Said Mr Ward: "Even a few seconds of time wasted waiting for yard tractors or equipment are important. Equipment breakdowns or missing staff can ruin productivity."