The Port of Los Angeles is attempting to find the balance between keeping the supply chain moving without eliminating jobs.
In June, 876,611 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units were moved, the best June in the port’s 115-year history. Matching last year’s record setting pace, the port has handled over 5.4 million TEUs as of June 2022.
“It’s about everybody coming together in the supply chain, trying to squeeze out every level of efficiency possible, doing things better. I’d like to say that we’re a lot smarter than we were a year ago. Data helps us anticipate a little bit more and make these handoffs between our partners in the supply chain that much more fluid,” Port of LA executive director Gene Seroka told “Inside the Issues” host Alex Cohen.
The port sees a lot of traffic coming in and out, which does not seem to be slowing down. For this reason, ports in some countries like the Netherlands have introduced machine automation to deal with shipments and cargo.
Three of the 12 marine terminals between LA and Long Beach have some semblance of robotics, with a fourth recently being announced.
“Automation and robotics at ports, especially here in Los Angeles is the most polarizing conversation we have. At the end of the day, with all the complexities, the needs of the private sector, the workforce, the political environment, we cannot leave the worker behind,” Seroka said. “And that’s why we have endeavored to build the nation’s first Good’s Movement Training Campus.”
The Goods Movement Training Campus will be funded with $110 million from the state of California. This new training program will be for truck drivers, mechanics, welders and others who might need to be upskilled or re-skilled to work in different ways at the port.
“We need to deliver that capability to [these workers at the port through this training]. And for the younger folks coming in, they want to know they have a career to move into as well for years and years to come,” Seroka continued. “Throughout this entire time of the surge and cargo volume, we’ve brought more longshore members onto the docks to work all this cargo. So we’ve got to find that true balance between the investment in the next generation technology and making sure our workers not only advanced, but flourish in that environment.”
While Americans seem to be hearing a lot about inflation and a looming recession, the Port of LA has not seen a lack of cargo going in and out. Seroka said the initial rush in the beginning of 2022 with the Lunar New Year celebrations did very well. In the so-called “slack season” midyear, the port saw a higher wave of cargo that normal, and there has not been a dip in cargo coming in since then.
“Then we come here, to this midway point of the year, and many told us on the import side of our ledger, that we would see an earlier than normal peak season. Folks didn’t want to get tangled up in congestion and supply chain dislocations,” Seroka said. “They wanted to get a head start. What I see now is that some may have more inventory than they thought they would.”
The traffic is not slowing down anytime soon. But the cargo coming to the port in the weeks and months ahead does look different than the inventory that has currently been on the ground, with consumers looking to buy back to school products, Halloween goods, fall and winter clothing, and household items.
“Our ports, along with Long Beach and Los Angeles combined, are going to grow. Say if anything catastrophic that happens, how do you handle all of that cargo?” Seroka continued. “And if you can supplement the volume of that cargo with robotics, you’ve got to be able to do it to expand capacity, which will also mean expanding the workforce…It’s not to cut back…It’s about how we can expand that capacity and its workforce.”
The port has opened back up to free boat tours of the LA Harbor as of July 30. Tours will be offered to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.
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