As the import and export trade gateways on the West Coast of the United States, the container handling volume of the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Boracay Island accounts for 40% of the container handling volume in the United States. However, the ranking of these two ports

The "24/7 all-weather work system" has also been promulgated, and measures have also been introduced to impose an additional fine of US$100 per day for overdue containers. However, there are still 158 ships floating on the sea outside the two major ports of , California, and .

As the U.S. West Coast import and export trade portal, the container handling volume of the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Boracay Island account for 40% of the container handling volume in the United States. However, the ranking of these two ports is The World Bank (hereinafter referred to as " World ") is almost at the bottom of the 2020 Global Container Port Performance Index (CPPI). The

CPPI index shows that among the 351 container ports in the world, the Port of Long Beach ranks 333rd and the Port of Los Angeles ranks 328th. In the index, the top 50 ports are mainly located in East Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

In a World Bank report launching the index, it was noted that in Los Angeles, it takes twice as long to move a container off a large ship as in an Asian port, which typically operates 24/7 (or 168 hours a week) but Many ports in the United States operate only 112 hours per week, with nights and weekends off.

Several industry experts and analysts interviewed by China Business News reporters all have doubts about the effective implementation of the 24/7 work system proposed by the Biden administration. The reason is that most companies in the port are private companies, even if they are allowed to work around the clock System, it is inevitable that "work is done but effort is not done".

The situation at the port has not improved significantly

As of the 2nd local time, according to data from the Southern California Marine Exchange, which monitors port ship traffic, there are currently 158 ships outside the two major ports of , California, , of which 102 are container ships. .

According to US media estimates, there are approximately 200,000 containers on these ships. In addition to these container ships that have not yet docked at the port, according to previous US calculations, there are about 60,000 overdue containers piled up in these two ports.

Recently, the Biden administration has introduced two measures. The first is to implement a 24/7 all-weather work system. The second is to introduce fines. Each overdue container will be fined US$100, and each container will be increased by US$100 per day thereafter. until the container leaves the terminal.

If calculated, the fine will be US$100 on the first day of overdue, US$200 on the second day, US$300 on the third day, and on the fifth day of overdue, the total fine will be US$1,500. If overdue for 30 days, there will be a fine per container. $46,500.

Despite this, the US government has lowered its expectations that the supply chain crisis can be alleviated in the near future.

Recently, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo (Gina Raimondo) said that the current port congestion problem at the Port of Los Angeles cannot be solved overnight. She said: "Fundamentally supply chain and logistics are run by the private sector. People ask me 'Will the Christmas gifts be delivered?' and I say: 'Call FedEx.'"

You know, this is not something that the government can do. And what we are doing is using every tool in our toolbox to provide support to help solve the problem of port congestion. The

CPPI index shows that none of the top 50 container ports in the world are American ports. According to the index, the top four are Japan's Yokohama Port, King Abdullah Port, Shenzhen Chiwan Port and Guangzhou Port . The

CCPI index is calculated based on all the time each ship spends in port, from the time the ship arrives at the port until it leaves the berth after completing the exchange of cargo.

The US gateway ports rank low on the CPPI list, with the Port of Los Angeles ranking 328th, behind Tanzania Dar es Salaam Port ; the Port of Long Beach, ranked 333rd, even lags behind Nemrut Bay in Turkey and Mombasa Port in Kenya .

On the list, the top U.S. port is the Port of Philadelphia, ranked 83rd. In addition, U.S. ports that also enter the top 100 include the Port of Virginia (85th), the Port of New York and New Jersey (89th) and Port of Charleston, South Carolina (No. 95).

Why we reject automation

Why are U.S. ports so unsatisfactory in efficiency? In addition to the widely reported shortage of truck drivers and rigid container stacking rules, the conflicting point of the problem also points to the port’s unions.

American media reported that the union representing dock workers has been effective in promoting the interests of its members, but these interests are at the expense of other workers and the public. The current average salary for dockworkers at U.S. West Coast ports is $182,000 per year, with foremen earning even more. At the same time, unions are resisting terminal automation out of concerns about jobs.

Scott Lincicome, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, argued in a recent research note that for years, U.S. unions have been trying to avoid automating ports on the West and East coasts, as They struggled with container shipping and computers decades ago.

Lincicome, for example, said that in 2018, the International Longshoremen Association (ILA), which represents dockworkers in eastern ports in the United States and Canada, negotiated a new six-year general contract covering tens of thousands of dockworkers. . One of the main elements of the contract negotiations and final agreement was restrictive clauses that prevented ports from implementing automation technology or equipment. This contract basically prohibited the possibility of achieving full automation in ports covered by the ILA before 2024.

ILA even "battles" with automated ships. At the end of September this year, ILA warned many ports not to use automated ships, saying that its members would not provide services for unattended automated ships.

Lincicome said the widespread failure to fully automate major U.S. ports has inevitably hurt their efficiency. For example, one analysis found that automated cranes in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, were nearly twice as efficient as non-automated cranes in Auckland.

He further explained that a high degree of automation makes it easier to perform multiple shifts per day and allows ports to make better use of expensive supplies (cranes, trucks, berths, etc.). Meanwhile, human-operated and software-operated cranes can theoretically move containers at the same speed. “However, people get tired and distracted and don’t always run at peak performance, whereas software runs at the same speed no matter what. Technology can also make workers’ jobs easier and safer and reduce stress in the workplace , which in itself increases productivity,” he said.

Zhou Shijian, a senior researcher at the Sino-US Relations Research Center at Tsinghua University, told China Business News that on the issue of port automation, the United States is indeed lagging behind, while Asia has caught up with latecomers. In addition, the port in this case has strict restrictions on the stacking height of containers in the cargo yard, and can only stack two layers, which also leads to serious unreasonable stacking.

If implemented carefully, port automation could cut operating costs by up to 55% and increase productivity by up to 35%, a study by consultancy McKinsey & Company found. Better technology will expand port operations and create more employment in terms of total number of jobs.

However, the Biden administration has not made more progress in this regard. The infrastructure bill currently under discussion includes a provision that provides $3.5 billion for zero-emission technology at ports, but this provision explicitly prohibits investment in automation.

A senior expert in the shipping industry told China Business News that in the United States, the relationship between the government and dock unions is very delicate. Previously, when employees on the West Coast of the United States went on strike, the Port of Dasheng was blocked. The government asked all parties to stop the strike and come out to work, but people could do "work without exerting effort."

This expert is referring to the fact that from September to October 2002, the West Coast Port Union of the United States held a two-week strike. Later, with the intervention of the Bush administration, the San Francisco Federal Court ordered the West Coast Port Union to immediately cease strike action and resume operations. During the loading and unloading operation, because no one was unloading the cargo, a large number of containers and cargo ships were backlogged on the West Coast, and there was also a phenomenon of "it was hard to find a container".

The above-mentioned experts also added that due to the various subsidies provided by the US government to individuals during the epidemic, this may further suppress the enthusiasm of workers to come out to work.