VIRGINIA: Port of Virginia shippers have longer to drop off and pick up cargo after the state port authority announced extended gate hours in preparation for peak season this year. It’s a preemptive strike for the U.S. Southeast port that faced “significant challenges” during the summer-fall season in 2014.
Gates at the port’s largest and busiest terminals Norfolk International Terminals and Virginia International Gateway are already open Saturdays from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m., according to the Virginia Port Authority’s operations alerts.
Effective Monday through Nov. 25, VIG, and only VIG, gates will be open from until 11:59 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The terminal’s inbound portal, though, will close at 11 p.m. on those days. Friday gate hours will remain unchanged, the port authority has said, opening at 5 a.m. and closing at 7 p.m.
Port of Virginia CEO John Reinhart has said he expects high volumes through the summer-fall peak season, especially after the port saw traffic rise 8.8 percent year-over-year just this past July.
Year-to-date, volume through the month of July was 1.47 million 20-foot-equivalent units, a 10.1 percent increase over the same period in 2014. July also marked the fifth consecutive month Virginia handled more than 210,000 TEUs of loaded and empty containers.
“At our terminals, we are beginning to process the volumes associated with the coming retail season and we anticipate this trend continuing through November,” Reinhart said in a statement. While there are no peak season forecasts available, port authority spokesman Joe Harris told JOC.com that the port is expecting a healthy uptick in cargo not unlike last year’s.
