Port of Oakland Terminal’s Night Gates Here to Stay
Image Courtesy: Port of OaklandPort of Oakland said that its busiest marine terminal Oakland International Container Terminal will make evening operations permanent following a three-month trial.
The port said that night gates will continue to take pressure off busier daytime container pick-up or delivery operations.
Oakland International Container Terminal launched night gates in late June when it started offering full night operations from Monday through Thursday for truck drivers to haul cargo.
According to data compiled by the terminal and the port, about 1,300 container transactions nightly have migrated from day to evening. The night operations also led to a drop in average transaction time for truck drivers from 96 minutes in August to 79 minutes last week, while thirty percent of trucking companies at the port reduced congestion surcharges assessed to customers for picking up containers.
A survey conducted by the port showed that 74 percent of cargo owners use Oakland night gates due to less terminal crowding. Sixty-five percent of owners said that night gates contributed to an improvement in transaction times.
Oakland International Container Terminal said it will continue to charge customers a USD 30 fee to finance night gates. About 6,000 trucks pass through the terminal’s gates daily, making it one of the busiest in the US. It handles 70 percent of the containerized cargo in Oakland.
A neighboring Oakland marine terminal, TraPac, said it is currently experimenting with night gates.
