WASHINGTON: The Port of Houston is preparing to extend its terminals’ gate hours, probably in mid-2017, as part of a broad effort to prepare for growth in exports of containerized plastic resins. “It’s all about better utilization of our assets and those of the transportation network,” Roger Guenther, executive director of the Port of Houston Authority, told JOC.com. Gates at Houston’s Barbours Cut and Bayport terminals now operate 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. Guenther said the port authority is preparing to extend the closing time to 11 p.m., probably around mid-year.
That would coincide with the expected start of a surge in exports from new or expanded petrochemical plants springing up along the Gulf Coast. Attracted by cheap natural gas, manufacturers have invested more than $100 billion in expansions in the Houston area alone. Several US container ports have extended gate hours in recent years to cope with rising volumes and slow truck turn times. Los Angeles and Long Beach, the busiest US container ports, use a PierPass fee on weekday moves to subsidize night and weekend gates.
In addition to higher labor costs, longer gate hours require the availability of Customs and Border Protection staff to inspect and clear cargo. Guenther said Customs “has committed the resources to make it happen” when the port is ready to extend gate hours. The Houston port has been taking steps to handle increased cargo volume without congestion that has plagued other US ports. Guenther said Houston’s turn times average 35 minutes for a single pickup or delivery, and less than an hour for a double move that combines delivery and pickup.
Houston has no plans to institute truck appointments, which several other ports have adopted or are considering in an effort to meter the arrivals of trucks. Guenther noted that Houston operates only two container terminals, and he said turn times aren’t long enough to require truckers to deal with the complications of an appointment system. “We don’t think we really need an appointment system right now,” he said. “Our truck arrivals are pretty consistent, without a lot of huge surges.”
The port’s plans for extended hours follow several years of investment in expansions, improvements, and new technology at Bayport and Barbours Cut. This month, Houston’s port board approved funds to upgrade the terminals’ gate technology to match their terminal operating systems. Meanwhile, the port is moving ahead with a phased expansion of Bayport and a rebuilding of Barbours Cut, part of which dates to the 1970s.
Those improvements include new ship-to-shore cranes and rubber-tired gantries, expanded acreage for cargo handling. Channels to both terminals have been deepened to match the Houston Ship Channel’s 45-foot depth. The US Army Corps of Engineers is working on an additional dredging project to provide ships with a wider turning radius into Barbours Cut. Recently the port authority signed an agreement to study the potential of an electric-powered autonomous container shuttle that would operate above roadways. The port hasn’t committed to invest in the shuttle but wants to evaluate the technology’s feasibility to see whether and how it could help handle volume growth, Guenther said.
Last year, Houston handled 1.76 million 20-foot-equivalent units of full containers, and total volume of more than 2.1 million TEUs of full and empty boxes. Guenther said the port is on track this year to surpass last year’s record volumes, which were boosted by diversions during West Coast labor disruptions. This year’s increase has been fueled by growth from existing customers, and from the launch last summer of an all-water Panama Canal service by 2M Alliance partners Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co.
The new 2M service, like Houston’s three other all-water Asian services, uses Panamax ships that make Houston their first US call. Houston will need additional all-water vessel capacity to handle a large share of the increase in resin exports. Guenther said the port is prepared to handle larger ships, additional services, or both. In addition to preparing for increased resin exports, Houston has been trying to attract more import cargo destined for Houston-area distribution centers, including a large one that Wal-Mart operates in nearby Baytown. Guenther said the effort has been successful, and that Houston’s imports of full containers are roughly in balance with exports.
Increased imports are needed to provide resin exporters with the empty containers they’ll need for their products — a point raised by competing ports and some shippers. Despite Houston’s proximity to Gulf Coast petrochemical plants, the port faces aggressive competition from intermodal routings to Asia via the West Coast.
Union Pacific and BNSF railroads are working with companies that are setting up resin transloading operations in Dallas-Fort Worth, an import distribution hub that tends to have a surplus of empty containers. Resins loaded into containers at Dallas-Fort Worth would move by rail to the West Coast. Guenther said exporters shouldn’t worry about container availability at Houston. “We’re very confident we will have enough empties,” he said. “Last week we had a special loader ship that called here just to pick up empties for repositioning. That’s a good sign that the equipment is going to be here.”
