During a press conference from the East Room of the White House on Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have transitioned to 24/7 operations to alleviate the severe bottleneck at the Southern California ports.
While the ports are indeed working to speed up the flow of goods, the reality is that it will take time for the busiest port complex in the country to significantly ramp up cargo movement, port officials said after the speech, adding that no terminal operates 24/7.
“It’s a bit of a process, it’s not an overnight thing,” Port of Long Beach spokesman Lee Peterson said in a phone call following the president’s remarks.
During his comments, Biden repeated a claim made earlier in the day by Press Secretary Jen Psaki that the Port of Long Beach began 24/7 operations “weeks ago.” However, no terminal at the Long Beach port currently offers 24/7 operations.
On Sept. 21, four days after the San Pedro Bay ports announced a joint move toward 24/7 operations, Long Beach unveiled a pilot program in which Total Terminal International container terminal on Pier T would expand hours of operations. Monday through Thursday, the terminal operates around the clock. Hours on other days of operation remain limited.
No other terminal at Long Beach has announced any 24-hour operations, Peterson confirmed.
“After weeks of negotiations and working with my team and with the major union retailers and freight movers, the Port of Los Angeles announced today that it’s going to begin operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Biden said during his speech.
The operational details of transitioning to a 24/7 model are still being discussed and worked out, Port of LA Executive Director Gene Seroka said in an email after Biden’s remarks. The port did announce expanded hours on Sept. 17, but systemic change of this magnitude takes the many branches of the supply chain to work in tandem, a point that Biden acknowledged in his speech.
“The significance of today’s announcement is the commitment from industry leaders responsible for moving goods on behalf of American consumers and businesses to open up the capacity needed to deliver,” Seroka said. “It’s a call to action for others to follow.”
Click here to read the full story from Brandon Richardson at the Long Beach Post News.
