PORT NEWS

April 30, 2010

The Port of Tacoma and its longshore workforce are positioning the Port to take advantage of an improving business climate amid strong signs that economic tide is already beginning to turn.

Those were the key messages delivered by officials of the Port and Local 23, International Longshore and Warehouse Union, at a standing-room-only breakfast gathering attended by more than 250 Port customers, transportation industry representatives, local business and community leaders and elected officials on April 28 in Tacoma. View the program.

Port Commission President Don Johnson said the Port "has worked hard over the last year to meet the tough challenges of the global economy. We have made critical adjustments, and we continue to position our Port to provide our customers with the most efficient and reliable service available."

Johnson is leading the effort to find a new CEO for the Port. "Our goal is to fill the position this summer, but above all we want to make sure we have the right person for the job, and I'm confident we will be able to do that."

Port Interim Executive Director John Wolfe said that in response to the challenging times, the Port has been "focusing on the fundamentals."

Among its efforts have been: renewing its commitment and focus on customers, maximizing the utilization of existing terminals, warehouses and real estate; strengthening its partnership with the ILWU; continuing to invest in strategic road and rail infrastructure, and improving operational and organizational efficiencies.

Wolfe said the Port also has been lobbying at the federal level to free up funding for strategic corridor improvements, and working at the state level to prevent implementation of fees that would drive cargo from the state. The Port is also continuing its environmental efforts, including launching a successful, no-fee program to reduce truck emissions.

Positive signs at the Port, according to Wolfe, include: NYK Line's plans to move into APM Terminals in 2012; Union Pacific Railroad's establishment of domestic rail service at the South Intermodal Yard last year; "K" Line's decision to bring bigger ships to Tacoma and Evergreen Line's plans to resume a service through Tacoma in May.

Also, VersaCold Logistics Services broke ground in January for a new 200,000-square-foot cold storage facility at the Port, while Alaska's largest rural retailer, the North West Company, is renting a 100,000-square-foot warehouse from the Port.

"All of these success stories are building momentum here at the Port of Tacoma," Wolfe said, "and collectively we're starting to feel that positive momentum that's going to propel us into the future."

ILWU Local 23 President Scott Mason said the downturn in the economy that has sliced container traffic through the Port of Tacoma and other U.S. West Coast ports, "made us look internally and externally at how we're operating."

He continued, "We have a labor relations committee and a business agent that are dedicated to making sure that we have a productive workforce ready to go to work every day to produce as much as they can in a safe working environment under our agreement."

The breakfast gathering also featured a keynote address by Kate Vitasek, a nationally known supply chain expert and instructor at the University of Tennessee. She stressed that cooperation among steamship lines, railroads, shippers, labor and others involved in the supply chain is critical to making it efficient, and supply chain efficiency is critical to business success.

"Business is a math problem," Vitasek said.

For example, Vitasek said, companies like Walmart have moved away from operating traditional warehouses, where products are stored, because storage is inefficient. Instead, they are implementing "cross-dock" operations, where product comes into a distribution center and immediately goes out to the stores.

Companies also are re-evaluating where they manufacture products, with some moving operations from China back to North America to improve supply chain efficiency. They are also are taking another look at how many distribution centers they need and where they should be. One reason for that is that as the price of truck fuel increases, it's cheaper to have more distribution centers that are closer to stores.

She also moderated a supply-chain panel featuring Rocky Griese, export and logistics manager for Costco Wholesale Corporation, John Keenan, senior vice president and COO of Horizon Lines, Linda Leary, president of Carlile Transportation Systems, and Dan Wall, Senior Vice President, Ocean and Cargo Management Services, Expeditors International of Washington.

Contact: Rod Koon, Port of Tacoma, (253) 383-9462