Oakland Port struggles to solve cargo backlog, ILWU 10 Pres " laid the blame squarely on SSA"

Oakland Port struggles to solve cargo backlog, ILWU 10 Pres " laid the blame squarely on SSA"
http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_23827285/oakland-port-struggles-sol...
Oakland Port struggles to solve cargo backlog "The port and the longshoremen's union disagree over what caused the cargo gridlock."
By Matthew Artz Oakland Tribune
POSTED: 08/07/2013 11:00:00 PM PDT | UPDATED: ABOUT 2 HOURS AGO

OAKLAND -- A debilitating cargo backlog at the Port of Oakland is entering its second month, leaving customers waiting weeks for their orders and truckers idling for up to seven hours for containers to transport.

"It's a huge problem," said Gloria Stockmyer of Stockmyer Trucking. "We've had issues in the past, but I've never seen anything like this."

For the fourth consecutive weekend, the port will keep open a major terminal complex controlled by SSA Terminals, where the backlog is centered. Cargo is flowing smoothly at the port's other terminals.

Port spokesman Robert Bernardo said the additional hours of operation were helping to finally move the stacks of containers and that hopefully the backlog would be alleviated next week. "We are doing everything we can to correct the problem," he said.

The port and the longshoremen's union disagree over what caused the cargo gridlock.

ILWU Local 10 President Mike Villeggiante laid the blame squarely on SSA, which last month took control of the affected terminal complex. He said the company took two berths out of operation at a time when cargo volumes have increased.

"It has nothing to do with labor," he said. "They're trying to move a lot of cargo from one area, and it just isn't functioning."

Bernardo said the problem has been exacerbated by the Independence Day holiday and three ensuing one-day labor stoppages by the longshoremen -- including one to protest SSA's takeover of the terminal.

"It's the perfect storm of events," Bernardo said.

Caught in the storm is Greg Long, owner of the San Francisco design firm GAMAGO, whose hamburger-shaped spatulas and bull nose key holders are shipped from China to Oakland before heading out to retail outlets.

Long said that it recently took 21 days for a container shipment that arrived in Oakland to go through customs and be delivered to him in San Francisco. That's triple the normal wait, Long said, and longer than it took the container ship to sail from China to Oakland.

"One of our shipping companies has refused to send drivers to the port because they just stay there waiting," Long said.

He said that after 13 years shipping through Oakland, he's considering his options. "This is the strangest thing that we've seen, and it has come during an important month for us."

SSA officials were not available to discuss the backlog or provide a tally on the number of containers waiting to be processed.

The company last month took over two terminals adjacent to a terminal it already operated at the port. The transition was part of an agreement that settled a lawsuit the company filed against the port for allegedly giving a sweetheart deal to a competing terminal operator.

Port officials said the agreement would help SSA create a super-terminal capable of servicing the next generation of container ships, but the longshoremen opposed the deal, saying it would cost them jobs.

So far, the added hours at the terminal to clear the backlog have provided more work for longshoremen. Among the biggest losers from the backlog are independent truckers, who are carrying fewer loads. Stockmyer said that the wait for truckers to pick up a container at the terminal has increased from up to two hours to seven hours since the backlog began.

Stockmyer said the gridlock eased up briefly Monday after the terminal was open last weekend but that things got worse later in the week. SSA should have been better prepared to begin operating the terminals, she said, but there was plenty of blame to go around.

"I think everybody has dropped the ball in this whole mess really, Stockmyer"

Contact Matthew Artz at 510-208-6435