Port Union Contract Negotiators Hopeful of Reaching a Deal Soon
A joint statement by the ILWU and PMA on the status of West Coast Port Union Contract negotiations on Feb 23, 2023, indicated that they remain hopeful of reaching a deal soon. The statement also announced that “the parties have reached a tentative agreement on certain key issues, including health benefits, and remain committed to resolving remaining issues as expeditiously as possible”. The Journal of Commerce, citing several anonymous sources close to the negotiations, reported the parties had agreed to temporarily set aside a controversial issue regarding a Seattle T-5 union jurisdictional dispute, which is in the hands of the National Labor Relations Board. The Union Contract between the ILWU, representing 22,000 workers at West Coast Ports, and the PMA, representing 29 West Coast Port Terminal Operators expired in July 2022. Read more
Port of Long Beach in Study for Wind Turbine Manufacturing Facility
The Port of Long Beach is preparing a proposal for the development of a wind turbine manufacturing facility located on 400 acres of newly built land located southwest of the Long Beach International Gateway Bridge. The “Pier Wind” project would include heavy lift wharves supporting large cranes to receive and assemble wind turbines standing taller than the Eiffel Tower, which would then be towed to sea to offshore wind farms located more than 20 miles off the CA coast in Federal waters at central and northern CA wind farms, where the wind is consistently strong. The facility would not impact other Port operations. The project is in the process of a study regarding the design concept and should be completed by late Spring. Read more
Largest Logistics Park Development in N. America Under Way in SoCal
Real Estate Developer Highland Fairview announced plans for the largest planned logistics and business park in North America to be underway in the SoCal Inland Empire. The $25 billion, World Logistics Center (WLC) is to be located across 2,600 acres in Moreno Valley, CA approx. 1.5 hrs from the Ports of Los Angeles & Long Beach and will include over 40 million sq ft of build-to-suit space on over 100 million sq ft of land. Plans for the WLC are to be the largest net-zero logistics development in North America including over 40 million sq ft of rooftop space for solar integration and 1,080 electric vehicle charging stations. Skechers has opened 2 warehouses at the WLC which are connected by a sky bridge, with plans to connect a third. The design of the fully entitled logistics park is underway, with construction slated to start this year and conclude in 2030. Read more
Schneider Receives 1st Class 8 BEV Truck of Intermodal Drayage Fleet in SoCal
Schneider, a top U.S. Motor Carrier, announced receipt of its first Class 8 Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) Truck at its SoCal facility in El Monte, CA. The Freightliner eCascadia will be part of a fleet of 92, expected to be fully operational by the end of the year. Schneider is building 16 EV charging stations to support the operation, which will be used primarily for intermodal rail drayage. The pairing of the zero-emissions electric trucks with intermodal rail services will provide a mode of freight transportation with extremely low carbon emissions – equivalent to removing 2,400 gas-powered cars from the road per year. The funding of Schneider’s BEVs was supported by the CA Joint Electric Truck Scaling Initiative (JETSI). The Freightliner eCascadia, the first Class 8 BEV model to be built by Daimler Truck North America in Portland, OR, with models up to 470 hp and a battery capacity of 438 kWh, has a range of up to 230 miles, which is suitable for short-hauls, where the truck can return to base the same day and recharge to 80% capacity in 90 minutes. Read more
Yusan Logistics Acquires Port-Based Multichannel 3PL Taylored Services
Yusan Logistics, a leading global supply chain company, announced the acquisition of Taylored Services, an Edison, NJ-based Third Party Logistics (3PL) provider with multichannel fulfillment operations located near the nation’s busiest Ports including Los Angeles/Long Beach, with 2.9 million sq ft of Tier 1 distribution space. Taylored Services, which will become part of Yusen Logistics (Americas) Inc. with 40 operational sites of over 5 million sq ft of warehouse capacity in the U.S., will maintain the Taylored Services brand name. Mikhail Kholyavenko, CEO of Yusen Logistics (Americas), stated: “Combining the strengths of Taylored fulfillment centers in U.S. port-centric gateway markets with Yusen Logistics’ global & domestic capabilities in international freight forwarding, warehousing & transloading operations, and supply chain orchestration will allow us to provide a full suite of supply chain logistics solutions to our current and future customers.” Read more
Amazon Expanding Same-Day Delivery Fulfillment Center Footprint
Amazon plans to expand its U.S. sub same day delivery stations (SSDs) from 46 to 150 in major markets, including Los Angeles, over the next several years according to reports by the Wall Street Journal and MWPVL International. The same-day delivery service, in competition with Walmart’s express delivery and third-party delivery services such as Instacart, provides Amazon Prime members a choice from 100,000 SKUs for delivery within 5 hours of order. At SSDs located within a 60-minute drive-time radius, orders are picked within 30 minutes of receipt, packed, and sent down a conveyor to an Amazon Flex driver, who makes the delivery over a four-hour block of time. Read more
DHL Expands SoCal Service Operations to a New State-of-the-Art Facility
DHL, a leading international express delivery provider, announced the relocation of its Carson, CA operations to a larger state-of-the-art service center in Redondo Beach, CA. The new $5 million facility is located less than 4 miles from the Los Angeles International Airport, where DHL operates international and domestic flights. The 40,000 sq ft facility includes upgraded material handling equipment which can process 3,775 pieces per hour to support time-definite domestic and international shipments. The site is also equipped with EV charging stations to support fully electric pickup and delivery vehicles to be deployed as part of DHL’s sustainability target to have 60% of its global delivery fleet to be electrically powered by 2030. Read more