The “STOR” is open for business at the Port of Long Beach.
It’s the Short Term Overflow Resource yard at Pier S, opened to streamline movement of cargo through the Port during a peak season that has collided with an unprecedented surge in container volume.
“We went from a significant drop to record highs almost overnight,” said Port Executive Director Mario Cordero. “We moved swiftly to launch STOR to meet the immediate logistics needs of our customers and supply chain partners.”
STOR is a near-dock, overflow container terminal fully equipped for staging loaded import and empty export containers. The yard fills an urgent need for space at a time when marine terminals are operating at full throttle, Southern California’s vast reservoir of commercial storage space – nearly 2 billion square feet – has no room to spare, and COVID-related safety protocols needed to protect warehouse workers are unavoidably hampering productivity.
The onslaught started in July after nearly six months of declining volumes due to the U.S.-China trade war and the ongoing global pandemic. Consumers spending more time at home and more money on goods and home improvement projects are fueling demand. Already accelerating on its own merits, e-commerce has gone into overdrive since the pandemic, increasing 36.7% from July to September compared with the third quarter of 2019, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. During the same period, the Port processed nearly 2.3 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent containers) – a 14.1% increase from the previous year and the Port’s busiest quarter on record and the trend has continued to date with the Port seeing its best November on record.
Harbor Commission President Frank Colonna praised staff for its quick action and win-win solution. “We have the dual responsibility of managing Port assets wisely on behalf of the public while ensuring our port delivers world-class customer service. The STOR at Pier S hits the mark on both fronts.”
STOR is an off-site option that gives Port’s beneficial cargo owners more control over their containerized goods and greater flexibility for moving them to distribution centers and transloading facilities, said Dr. Noel Hacegaba, the Port’s Deputy Executive Director of Administration and Operations. Containers bound for STOR go there immediately from the docks. “It frees up space at the marine terminals and allows our industry partners to prioritize the movement of their containers in and out of the port so customers can get their products where they need to go when they need to move them.”
More on STOR
STOR opened for business Oct. 8 on a 17-acre site. Within two weeks, more than 1,300 40-foot containers were moving through the short-term storage area. The operation has since expanded to nearly 40 acres and handles more than twice as many containers daily.
“Cargo owners, the trucking community and drivers have all been extremely positive,” said Joe Gregorio Jr., President and Chief Operating Officer of Pacific Terminal Service Company, the stevedoring company that operates STOR. “We have very little wait time, and the drivers enjoy coming because they can make additional trips in a single day.” Truckers shuttling containers between STOR and the marine terminals can double or triple their trips compared with the one to two turns they typically make on longer drayage moves outside the Harbor District. More turns per day adds up to more earnings for the driver.
STOR’s business hours align with marine container terminal hours – 7 a.m. to 4 a.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends – and all the cargo is handled by International Longshore and Warehouse Union workers. It is also a fully wheeled operation to ensure containers are ready to roll.
“We’re a very fluid operation,” Gregorio said. “Turn times are 12 to 17 minutes and dual transactions make up 80% to 90% of our activity.”
STOR rates are competitive and the added value of STOR for cargo owners is access, efficiency, reliability and velocity, Gregorio said. “Our industry is not doing business in a normal environment, in a normal year with normal cargo volumes,” he said.
STOR’s Origin Story
The idea for STOR originated with the Port’s Business Recovery Task Force, a high-level rapid response team. The Port formed the task force in early 2020 to remain a strong, agile and proactive trade partner in an industry hard hit by the economic impacts of the pandemic and trade war. This summer, the task force swung into action to address the abrupt rebound. Port staff talked to more than 200 beneficial cargo owners and U.S. exporters as part of the process. “In a matter of weeks, we consulted with our industry partners, developed the concept and executed the month-to-month lease,” said Hacegaba, who heads the task force.
Fortuitously, cargo volume was ramping up as construction on the Gerald Desmond Replacement Bridge project was winding down. On Oct. 2 when all eyes were on the Port’s grand opening celebration of the new bridge, Pier S was transitioning from a staging site for heavy-duty construction equipment and materials to the short-term container yard. “If the cameras had panned the area beneath the bridge, you would have seen the making of STOR,” said the Port’s Managing Director of Commercial Operations Kenneth Duncan.
Most of the land was already graded, paved and ready for reuse, and no infrastructure improvements were needed. Duncan said. “It’s a big piece of land that gives our retail partners the fluidity and predictability they need to keep shelves and fulfillment centers stocked.”
PTSC is a subsidiary of Pacific Crane Maintenance Company, a leading West Coast cargo handling equipment repair and maintenance company that has done business at the San Pedro Bay port complex for three decades. PCMC also operates two chassis yards at Pier B and Harbor Plaza that support Long Beach Container Terminal.
The Port and PTSC were also able to move quickly because rates for short-term leases are already set in the tariff. The arrangement allows the Port to generate revenue from Pier S, which was available for use.
Source: Port of Long Beach
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