Seaports, Industrial's Biggest Challenge

LOS ANGELES—“Seaports are the weakest link. They haven’t been able to adjust quickly enough to support big ships,” Bill Mongelluzzo, senior editor at Journal of Commerce, said on the “Connecting the Links: Supply Chain Strategies for Success” panel on the first day of the NAIOP’s I.CON event in Long Beach. (NAIOP is a GlobeSt.com Thought Leader.) The comment came as part of a discussion lead by panel moderator Craig Meyer, president of the logistics and industrial services group, Americas, at JLL, and with speakers Lange Allen, executive director of US industrial and logistics development at USAA Real Estate Co., and Noel Hacegaba, CIO of the Port of Long Beach, about the challenges facing the industrial sector.

Hacegaba agreed with Mongelluzzo that the seaports and congestion were a major issue, explaining that it was a problem that affected the whole supply chain. The two noted that the congestion at the ports has increased the turn time for drivers by double the standard time, a problem that has lead to a driver shortage and that has dramatically cut into drivers’ profit margins. “Drivers need two-to-three turns a day to break even and four turns to make a profit,” said Hacegaba. “At the height of congestion, they only make one turn a day.”