US West Coast ports prep for tariff-driven volatility

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor | Jun 28, 2018 10:15AM EDT

US ports can follow the lead of West Coast ports, which have developed a smart strategy to prepare several weeks in advance for sudden surges or drops in cargo volumes. (Above: The Port of Los Angeles.) Photo credit: Shutterstock.com.

US West Coast ports are working with terminal operators, truckers, railroads, and beneficial cargo owners to prepare now for the strong possibility of plunging and even surging cargo volumes due to Trump administration
tariffs and retaliation by US trading partners.

“For the Port of Los Angeles, it’s having the visibility and a level of preparedness. Be over-prepared,” Gene Seroka, executive director of the largest US container port, told a seminar sponsored Wednesday by the Harbor Trucking Association. Preparedness for imports means having terminal labor and inland transportation resources primed to handle a sudden spike in traffic, if importers fast-forward shipments ahead of the tariffs, he said.