1 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:15,320 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Odd Lots Podcast. 2 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:20,360 Speaker 1: I'm Joe Wisenthal and I'm Tracy Alloway. Tracy, I think 3 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 1: we're actually getting to the point where we've covered a 4 00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:29,000 Speaker 1: lot of the supply chain by now. No, that's impossible. Okay, 5 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:33,040 Speaker 1: there's always more. There's definitely always more, but I feel like, 6 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:36,199 Speaker 1: you know, the big things we're starting to. Like, you know, 7 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: if you were to have some manufactured good for that 8 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:43,159 Speaker 1: was manufactured in China and consumed in the US, you 9 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:45,920 Speaker 1: would know a lot about it by now if you 10 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:51,159 Speaker 1: listen to all. We've certainly provided a public service in 11 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 1: supply chain education, that's true. So yeah, okay, So we've 12 00:00:55,600 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: talked about ships and the containers at least at least 13 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: three times, I think actually to on Freight one, on 14 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 1: dry Ball more, talked about trucking who recently did a 15 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:12,120 Speaker 1: where House episode, although unfortunately you have to miss that one. 16 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: But of course, you know, Okay, there's the ports, and 17 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:18,960 Speaker 1: we've talked about congestion at the ports, but we really 18 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 1: haven't dived deep into what's going on there. Yeah. Well, 19 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: we've sort of talked about the ports from the perspective 20 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:31,040 Speaker 1: of the shipping industry, and there's a bit of Um, 21 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 1: I guess there's sort of blame being laid on both 22 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:36,200 Speaker 1: sides for the transportation gridlock. Right, So a lot of 23 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 1: the container shipping companies will say, well, yes, there's a 24 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:42,039 Speaker 1: shortage of containers and there are some issues in shipping, 25 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:45,800 Speaker 1: but the ports aren't handling stuff well or they haven't 26 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:48,400 Speaker 1: made enough infrastructure investment, and so there's a lot of 27 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 1: gridlock on that side. And um, so you're sort of 28 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 1: getting two different well two different versions of what's going on. Yeah, 29 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:01,520 Speaker 1: exactly right, Like, we know that there's numerous ships that 30 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:06,200 Speaker 1: are waiting to be unloaded. We know some at the ports, 31 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:08,200 Speaker 1: and people have pointed this out several times, that there 32 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: are several days, or that there are ships that are 33 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 1: waiting there for their turn to get outloaded. We know 34 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 1: all kinds of things are going on. It is a 35 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:17,920 Speaker 1: source of bottleneck as far as I know, and we're 36 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:20,360 Speaker 1: going to learn more about it shortly. It has yet 37 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: to ease, really, but I think it's time we really 38 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:26,120 Speaker 1: figured out, like what is happening when the ship gets 39 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:28,360 Speaker 1: to the port, when it needs to get have the 40 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 1: containers unloaded, put onto trucks and so forth. And it really, 41 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:35,160 Speaker 1: uh really drilled down into that specific points along the 42 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: supply Jamt. Yeah, absolutely, so it's going to be a 43 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:42,920 Speaker 1: really interesting discussion. My only knowledge about ports comes from 44 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 1: that one season of The Wire, so I'm quite keen 45 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:48,320 Speaker 1: to to learn more about how they work and what's 46 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:51,120 Speaker 1: going on right now. Exactly right, Well, I we have 47 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:55,239 Speaker 1: the best possible guests for this episode. We're gonna be 48 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:59,000 Speaker 1: speaking to Jeans Troka. He is the executive director at 49 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 1: the Port of Loss Angeles. He's been in that role 50 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:05,800 Speaker 1: for a little bit over seven years. Gene, thank you 51 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: so much for joining us. Thanks Joe and Tracy, pleasure 52 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 1: to be here today. Why don't you just start us 53 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:15,520 Speaker 1: off big picture. We know that there is a lot 54 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: of congestion at the ports. How bad is it right now? 55 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:24,120 Speaker 1: What are the numbers like versus ah, you know, versus 56 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:28,280 Speaker 1: historical comparisons, and what are the prospects for things? Easy 57 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: and give us that give us the state of the 58 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:32,560 Speaker 1: Port of Los Angeles right now. Yeah, Joe. The story 59 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: really goes back over three years ago to the introduction 60 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:39,640 Speaker 1: of trade tariffs and a pretty unique take on the 61 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: trade policy by the previous administration of Washington created a 62 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: lot of choppiness in the industry. Folks were importing big 63 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: numbers to get inside of tariff milestone dates and taxes 64 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 1: that American companies were paying on those imported goods. Similarly, 65 00:03:57,320 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: and at the same time, we started to see retaliator 66 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 1: terrorists put in place uh specifically by China, which have 67 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: impacted our farmers, manufacturers, and our automotive sector broadly. Flash 68 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: forward to the end of two thousand nineteen. We went 69 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: off a cliff because of those trade policies that were 70 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:21,160 Speaker 1: in place. Our business dropped by about sixteen percent, and 71 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:25,960 Speaker 1: most folks were looking for a pretty mundane year. As 72 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:28,920 Speaker 1: we got into that area of around Lunar New Year 73 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 1: in January, the bottom really fell out completely. With the 74 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:37,640 Speaker 1: advent of the COVID nineteen virus. The Chinese economy shutdown. 75 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 1: Manufacturing sector was shuttered, and then soon thereafter we went 76 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:45,240 Speaker 1: into safer at home orders and our volume dropped another 77 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:50,200 Speaker 1: nineteen percent up through May. Then suddenly the American consumer 78 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 1: found that they could buy a lot more online, they 79 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:55,880 Speaker 1: could make a family out into a big box retailer 80 00:04:55,960 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 1: or home improvement store, and our retail goods started going 81 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:04,400 Speaker 1: through the roof and since then, we've averaged about nine 82 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: thousand container units a month every month that used to 83 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 1: be a good single month in our traditional peak season. 84 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:17,280 Speaker 1: So where we stand today is that birth productivity our 85 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 1: vessels compared to pre COVID times. We're welcoming in about 86 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 1: fifteen vessels a day compared to ten before COVID and 87 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:30,280 Speaker 1: this buying surge started. But all parts of the supply 88 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 1: chain have been kind of stacked up. The warehouses are full, 89 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:36,840 Speaker 1: and and remember we've got about two billion square feet 90 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:39,680 Speaker 1: of warehousing from the shores of the Pacific out to 91 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 1: the Mojave Desert here in southern California, they're overflowing. If 92 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 1: those warehouses are overflowing, about a third of our cargo 93 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:50,880 Speaker 1: goes to them directly. So those containers sit as warehouses 94 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:55,760 Speaker 1: on wheels. Our marine terminals, of which we operate today 95 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 1: seven for container business out of the twenty seven here 96 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:02,640 Speaker 1: at the nation's largest port in Los Angeles, those terminals 97 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 1: are operating at about of land usage physical design full 98 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:12,360 Speaker 1: capacity is eighty percent utilization, right, So the next ship 99 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:15,520 Speaker 1: that comes in can only unload so much cargo because 100 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:17,840 Speaker 1: there's no room to put it. The ship after that 101 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:21,719 Speaker 1: winds up sitting outside our breakwater at anchor, and today 102 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:25,680 Speaker 1: we've got twenty six container vessels at anchor outside that breakwater, 103 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:28,720 Speaker 1: destined for both the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, 104 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:32,640 Speaker 1: the twin ports of San Pedro Bay. The average stay 105 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: out there is five days. It's about half of what 106 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 1: it was at its worst point back in February. But 107 00:06:39,279 --> 00:06:42,440 Speaker 1: compared to what we normally like to see zero ships 108 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 1: at anchor, high levels of fluidity of cargo, this pandemic 109 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:49,200 Speaker 1: induced buying surge is something the likes of which we've 110 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:53,120 Speaker 1: never seen before. So let me ask you the obvious 111 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:56,880 Speaker 1: question based off of that, but what, in your opinion, 112 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: is driving um some of the grid law that we've 113 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 1: seen people can complain about. So we have, you know, 114 00:07:04,320 --> 00:07:08,200 Speaker 1: lots of ships anchored um off the port waiting for 115 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:10,040 Speaker 1: a birth, although as you said, it's not as bad 116 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:12,560 Speaker 1: as it once was, but plenty of people out there 117 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:16,400 Speaker 1: are talking about rising shipping costs, um, longer waiting times, 118 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:22,080 Speaker 1: shortages of various goods. What's contributing to the gridlock. Is 119 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:26,240 Speaker 1: it just the surge in activity that you described. Yeah, 120 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:30,760 Speaker 1: primarily and as I stated, the choppiness of imports, the 121 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 1: paucity of exports, the lack of a balance of trade, 122 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 1: which has been exacerbated by these ill advised trade policies, 123 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 1: have really moved us out of kilter and tracy. What 124 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: you've seen is, basically, and I think Dan Maffei, the 125 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:50,480 Speaker 1: Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission, put it best, it's 126 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:54,560 Speaker 1: like putting ten lanes of traffic into five. We've been 127 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 1: breaking records every month. We surpassed one million container units 128 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: in a month. It was a first for any port 129 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 1: in the Western Hemisphere. We surpassed ten million container units 130 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:09,520 Speaker 1: in a fiscal year, first time ever in the Western Hemisphere. 131 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:12,400 Speaker 1: So we're pushing through a lot of cargo. We just 132 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:15,360 Speaker 1: have much more coming at us than ever before. And 133 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:19,120 Speaker 1: when these nodes of the transportation system start getting clogged up, 134 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:22,960 Speaker 1: they back up all the way to the waterfront. So, Gene, 135 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 1: you mentioned just then this idea of trade being out 136 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:29,120 Speaker 1: of balance, and this is something we've heard consistently from 137 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: our guests, this idea that you have a one way 138 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:35,320 Speaker 1: flow of trade from China to the US, which means 139 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:38,920 Speaker 1: you have all these full containers going to America, and 140 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:42,560 Speaker 1: then you have an issue of the containers actually getting 141 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 1: back to Asia so that they can complete the round 142 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:48,800 Speaker 1: trip and be sent again. And I think Ryan Peterson 143 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:51,960 Speaker 1: from Flex Sports gave us a stat that before the 144 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:56,160 Speaker 1: pandemic something like sixty of containers leaving the US were empty, 145 00:08:56,520 --> 00:09:00,120 Speaker 1: and it since jumped to something like can you of 146 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:03,600 Speaker 1: some color around that issue? Why is that a problem 147 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 1: and how many empty containers are you seeing as a 148 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: proportion right now? Well, start off with with the major 149 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:13,839 Speaker 1: solve for in the industry is that most of our 150 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:17,640 Speaker 1: imports go to metropolitan areas and many of our exports 151 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:21,600 Speaker 1: emanate from rural America. So as an example, we bring 152 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:24,600 Speaker 1: in a ton of product into Chicago and then we 153 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:29,080 Speaker 1: still as an industry have to cater to the American 154 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 1: farmer in the Red River Valley in North Dakota. So 155 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:37,440 Speaker 1: how do you get that empty container chassis rail service 156 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:42,000 Speaker 1: and align it with ship service from Chicago up to 157 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:46,240 Speaker 1: some place outside of Fargo where a farmer wants to 158 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:50,839 Speaker 1: load a bunch of containers. That's number one difficulty. Number 159 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:53,440 Speaker 1: two is that with all these imports coming in now, 160 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:56,920 Speaker 1: there has been a look by the liner shipping companies 161 00:09:56,960 --> 00:09:59,520 Speaker 1: that they need to get empties evacuated back to the 162 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:03,960 Speaker 1: manufact acturing location of preposition those containers to catch the 163 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:07,600 Speaker 1: next round of lucrative imports faster than ever. So there's 164 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:11,080 Speaker 1: been a commercial decision made. And then thirdly, the strength 165 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:13,920 Speaker 1: of the US dollar is also continuing to impact us. 166 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:16,480 Speaker 1: And while it's so important and so good for our 167 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:19,720 Speaker 1: economy in many many ways, it's not good from a 168 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:23,520 Speaker 1: competitiveness standpoint, because we're going up against other trading nations 169 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:25,680 Speaker 1: that have better exchange rates and are beaten us to 170 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:29,320 Speaker 1: the punch. So we we know Ryan likes to comment 171 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:31,360 Speaker 1: on a lot of things in the industry. I can 172 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:33,960 Speaker 1: tell you what goes on here and through the nation's 173 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:38,240 Speaker 1: largest gateway. We're right now sending back about three hundred 174 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:43,040 Speaker 1: thousand empty container units per month to every one hundred 175 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:48,880 Speaker 1: thousand export units. We're about five to one imports to exports, 176 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:51,520 Speaker 1: and in more normal times, Tracy, that's about two and 177 00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:55,920 Speaker 1: a half imports to everyone export. You know, let me 178 00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:59,200 Speaker 1: uh back up for a moment, and something I realized, 179 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:01,720 Speaker 1: I don't know what the corporate structure of the Port 180 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:03,800 Speaker 1: of Los Angeles. I mean, we think of it as 181 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:07,880 Speaker 1: like the sort of important public infrastructure, but what is 182 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:10,000 Speaker 1: uh is it owned? Is it private? Is it for private? 183 00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:13,920 Speaker 1: What's the nature of it? Joe. The Port of Los 184 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:17,480 Speaker 1: Angeles is a municipal agency of the city. I report 185 00:11:17,559 --> 00:11:21,600 Speaker 1: to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti directly. He is appointed 186 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:25,200 Speaker 1: a five member Harbor Commission that works with me on 187 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:28,480 Speaker 1: all policy issues and helps drive business. We are not 188 00:11:28,679 --> 00:11:31,880 Speaker 1: for We are a nonprofit agency where all moneys and 189 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:35,280 Speaker 1: revenue sources from our customers coming in are reinvested in 190 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:39,560 Speaker 1: our ports, infrastructure, our community, with respect to public access 191 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:44,280 Speaker 1: and our environmental strategy. We hold these dred acres of 192 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:47,360 Speaker 1: property and trust for the people of California based on 193 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:51,719 Speaker 1: the state's Tiglands trust regulation that was an unattended consequence 194 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:54,880 Speaker 1: of the state joining the Union. Can you talk about 195 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:59,160 Speaker 1: when when a ship actually comes to a port um 196 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:03,280 Speaker 1: like yours, what are the economics or the process of 197 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:07,920 Speaker 1: unloading um and loading the ships like? How does that work? 198 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:13,480 Speaker 1: And how do you decide who to prioritize? Probably two 199 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:18,319 Speaker 1: questions there, one being operations into being economics. One, as 200 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:22,080 Speaker 1: a landlord port defined by the U. S. Army Corps 201 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:25,560 Speaker 1: of Engineers, we manage the property and we lease it 202 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:30,439 Speaker 1: out to private sector companies who manage the transportation business. 203 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:34,880 Speaker 1: So those would be primarily marine terminal operators who welcome 204 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:38,240 Speaker 1: in the liner shipping companies to work their vessels and 205 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:42,319 Speaker 1: move cargo throughout the nation's four hundred thirty five congressional 206 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:46,319 Speaker 1: districts with product moving in and out of Los Angeles. 207 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:50,600 Speaker 1: So the private sector companies are responsible for designing schedules, 208 00:12:50,679 --> 00:12:55,199 Speaker 1: vessel berthing windows, priority lists, and how they physically want 209 00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:58,360 Speaker 1: to move cargo in and out, while working very closely 210 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:02,720 Speaker 1: with the International launshore or Warehouse Union for the dock workers, 211 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: truck driver's warehouse operators, etcetera. From the financial perspective, we 212 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:12,120 Speaker 1: lease out property to these private sector companies and we 213 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:15,000 Speaker 1: make our money by every container that has moved over 214 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:18,560 Speaker 1: these docks, and that revenue stream then, as I mentioned, 215 00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:22,880 Speaker 1: goes back into three major segments of port infrastructure, both 216 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:29,679 Speaker 1: physical as well as digital, our community efforts on public access, retail, dining, entertainment, 217 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:33,760 Speaker 1: public infrastructure, and then thirdly, the environmental strategy that has 218 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:36,160 Speaker 1: been in place now for the better part of seventeen years, 219 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:39,400 Speaker 1: which has witnessed a reduction in diesel particulate matter by 220 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:44,400 Speaker 1: nine percent over that time. What is uh the market 221 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:47,320 Speaker 1: share When we think about the biggest ports entering the US. 222 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:49,199 Speaker 1: And I know there's you mentioned the Port of Long 223 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:51,480 Speaker 1: Beach is another big one. Can you give us this 224 00:13:51,559 --> 00:13:56,200 Speaker 1: sort of distribution of major sort of entryway for imports? 225 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:59,200 Speaker 1: How much share does the Port of Los Angeles have? 226 00:13:59,559 --> 00:14:01,200 Speaker 1: And I guess does this sort of I don't know. 227 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:03,280 Speaker 1: I guess it's a two part question. You know, we 228 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:06,440 Speaker 1: think about, Okay, the ports are jammed, and we obviously 229 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:10,240 Speaker 1: have this issue. Is this an area that would be 230 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:14,040 Speaker 1: right for potential further public investment? You know, there's this 231 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:17,200 Speaker 1: big infrastructure bill that they're debating in d C. Is 232 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:21,760 Speaker 1: there an opportunity to expand our import capacity so that 233 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 1: we don't have these issues in the future. Sure, both 234 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:27,320 Speaker 1: are good questions, broad picture on the on the market 235 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:31,080 Speaker 1: share percentages. Many while both ports Long Beach and Los 236 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:35,720 Speaker 1: Angeles are municipal agencies of the respective cities, most in 237 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:41,200 Speaker 1: the industry observers, users of the port, customers and transport 238 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:45,080 Speaker 1: service companies all see this as one port complex. And 239 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:50,080 Speaker 1: this complex represents forty per cent of our nation's imports 240 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:53,760 Speaker 1: and about thirty percent of our nation's exports. Now, the 241 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:58,280 Speaker 1: interesting take here, Joe and Tracy is that before two 242 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:02,280 Speaker 1: thousands two, we had fift the nation's imports. We've lost 243 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:06,640 Speaker 1: about our market share as many importers have gone to 244 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:10,440 Speaker 1: four corners and poor diversification strategies due to what they 245 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:15,520 Speaker 1: saw as difficulties or trying to de risk their supply chains. 246 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:19,120 Speaker 1: Over time, that was also met with increasing investment on 247 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 1: the Eastern Gulf Coast, also on the Pacific coast of 248 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:26,120 Speaker 1: Mexico as well as British Columbia, so importers now had 249 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:29,160 Speaker 1: more choice than they ever had before. And then just 250 00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:31,880 Speaker 1: several years back, the opening of the third lock of 251 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:36,080 Speaker 1: the Panama Canal gave further scale to those who wanted 252 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:38,280 Speaker 1: to utilize other ports of entry and exit in the 253 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:42,840 Speaker 1: United States. Back to the market share position Los Angeles 254 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:47,640 Speaker 1: right now, is it about of all container cargo traffic 255 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 1: moving in and out of the United States. So a 256 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:53,840 Speaker 1: healthy number one position in that segment that we've held 257 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:58,560 Speaker 1: now for one consecutive years. So again matched up with 258 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:02,680 Speaker 1: the fact that the car going passengers traversing this port 259 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:04,840 Speaker 1: reach each and every one of our nation's four hundred 260 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:07,680 Speaker 1: and thirty five congressional districts. I would say all those 261 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:11,320 Speaker 1: numbers combined mean that this is a conversation of national 262 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:16,800 Speaker 1: economic significance. We also employ as part of this port complex, 263 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:20,640 Speaker 1: one in nine jobs in the five county Southern California region. 264 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:24,240 Speaker 1: That means about a million paychecks every week go to 265 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:27,680 Speaker 1: people who have jobs related to this port. Whether it's 266 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:32,360 Speaker 1: the large manufacturing community in Los Angeles County, are dock workers, truckers, 267 00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:36,840 Speaker 1: and the warehouse personnel that I mentioned to other logistitions 268 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:40,360 Speaker 1: and business folks around this supply chain. So it's a 269 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:43,360 Speaker 1: very important part of our economy, and when there are 270 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:47,880 Speaker 1: problems here, it is felt across a wide swath of 271 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:52,240 Speaker 1: the working population. On the notion of infrastructure, there's a 272 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:55,200 Speaker 1: lot to like about the American Jobs Plan, and we've 273 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:58,640 Speaker 1: been following very closely talking to administration officials back in 274 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:03,160 Speaker 1: Washington about bipartisan negotiations that continue to this very hour 275 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 1: on how we are going to push out money to 276 00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:09,680 Speaker 1: all these important areas, including right now at its latest rendition, 277 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:14,120 Speaker 1: about sixteen billion US dollars related to ports and inland 278 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:17,280 Speaker 1: waterways throughout the country. But there is one area that 279 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:20,639 Speaker 1: that makes me pause is that over the past ten years, 280 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:24,760 Speaker 1: the federal government has out invested the West Coast ten 281 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:28,800 Speaker 1: to one by putting about eleven billion US dollars into 282 00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:31,680 Speaker 1: ports on the eastern Gulf Coast versus about one point 283 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:35,080 Speaker 1: two billion US here on the West coast. That's got 284 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:37,720 Speaker 1: to change. And what we've asked the Biden administration and 285 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:40,240 Speaker 1: the officials are to look at investments that will have 286 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:43,280 Speaker 1: the greatest economic good for the country. And that leads 287 00:17:43,280 --> 00:18:03,760 Speaker 1: you to one place, Los Angeles. Just on the topic 288 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:07,200 Speaker 1: of market share, and I guess competition with other ports, 289 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:09,800 Speaker 1: I'm afraid this is probably also going to be a 290 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:13,800 Speaker 1: two part question, But one have you lost market share 291 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:18,119 Speaker 1: to other ports, specifically because of the congestion issue? And 292 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:22,399 Speaker 1: then to what can you do to ease congestion or 293 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:28,520 Speaker 1: what have you been doing good questions? Um One, the 294 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:30,960 Speaker 1: numbers here have been going up since last year. No, 295 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:33,600 Speaker 1: we've not lost any market share to other ports. But 296 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 1: most of the industry observers Tracy who look at this 297 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:39,880 Speaker 1: information lagged by about six to eight weeks, So you're 298 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:42,960 Speaker 1: not going to see anything just this moment. But in 299 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:47,240 Speaker 1: watching our numbers again, averaging nine thousand container units a month, 300 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:50,880 Speaker 1: crossing a million in May, very unlikely that will lose 301 00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:54,679 Speaker 1: market share in this snapshot in time, what can we 302 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:57,360 Speaker 1: do to ease congestion. We've been working on that around 303 00:18:57,359 --> 00:19:01,200 Speaker 1: the clock with our business partners, with government officials. Merry 304 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:04,240 Speaker 1: gar Citi and I were just on a nationwide conference 305 00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:08,919 Speaker 1: call with a Secretary Pete Boudhigage of the Department of Transportation, 306 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:14,680 Speaker 1: with representatives from Agriculture, the FMC, and Maritime Administration, plus 307 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:18,040 Speaker 1: many others. We've outlined what we're doing right now, and 308 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:21,920 Speaker 1: number one, we believe that digitization is going to carry 309 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,760 Speaker 1: us through this. Think of a place, this complex, with 310 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:30,879 Speaker 1: this myriad of customers, about two hundred thousand importers and exporters, 311 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:33,960 Speaker 1: no one of which has more than a five percent 312 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:39,800 Speaker 1: market share, eighteen thousand truckers, twelve marine terminals, twenty vessel operators, 313 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:43,919 Speaker 1: and a look at railroad systems that are unlike anywhere 314 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:46,000 Speaker 1: else in the world where we have about a hundred 315 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:48,800 Speaker 1: trains per day no less than three miles in length 316 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 1: moving in and out of the port complex. Working with 317 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 1: all these private sector companies, everybody works in their own silo. 318 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,200 Speaker 1: So what we've tried to do is create our nation's 319 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:03,439 Speaker 1: first and still only port community system co created with 320 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:06,560 Speaker 1: web Tech called the Port Optimizer and it's meant to 321 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:10,160 Speaker 1: be a system of systems to aggregate data so folks 322 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:12,719 Speaker 1: don't have to hunt and peck around dozens and dozens 323 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:16,600 Speaker 1: of websites. And with our partnership through United States Customs 324 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:20,399 Speaker 1: and Border Protection, we received data some forty days before 325 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:24,000 Speaker 1: a vessel comes into Los Angeles, so our partners through 326 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:27,960 Speaker 1: this information sharing concept can see what's coming in plan 327 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:32,160 Speaker 1: their staffing and asset positioning better than anyone else. And 328 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:34,920 Speaker 1: with that, I think we've gotten a leg up where 329 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:38,879 Speaker 1: vessel productivity is up. We're moving more cargo in and 330 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:41,320 Speaker 1: out of this port than we ever have before, but 331 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:44,480 Speaker 1: there are still adjustments we have to make. More people 332 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:47,720 Speaker 1: need to join our digitization project, and that's gonna be 333 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:50,320 Speaker 1: a must if we're gonna have everyone filtering out through 334 00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:53,320 Speaker 1: this information flow to make sure they're prepared better than 335 00:20:53,359 --> 00:20:57,320 Speaker 1: they are today. Second, we've put numerous incentives in place 336 00:20:57,359 --> 00:21:00,399 Speaker 1: to reduce trucker weight times, the time they spend at 337 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:03,480 Speaker 1: the port, and how quickly they can move out. In addition, 338 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:06,760 Speaker 1: we've encouraged our truck community to move containers in and 339 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:09,720 Speaker 1: out at the same time, bring an import out of 340 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:12,600 Speaker 1: the port while dropping off that export at the same 341 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:15,200 Speaker 1: time so as not to wait that precious gate time. 342 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:18,840 Speaker 1: We also, through our digitization program, have a look at 343 00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:22,800 Speaker 1: a port wide reservation system that will show us exactly 344 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:27,640 Speaker 1: where we have opportunities to expand service. For example, right now, 345 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:29,840 Speaker 1: on our night shifts that go from six pm to 346 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:34,000 Speaker 1: three am, thirty per cent of our truck reservation system 347 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:39,560 Speaker 1: go unused. So we've got to drive truckers to that 348 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:43,399 Speaker 1: particular open reservation to avoid their way times during the 349 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:49,040 Speaker 1: day and maximize their productivity. Containers are sitting because truckers 350 00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:51,160 Speaker 1: are not showing up and for a myriad of reasons, 351 00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:54,520 Speaker 1: not just that individual driver or the trucking company. We've 352 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:57,960 Speaker 1: got to get the information so precise that these folks 353 00:21:58,000 --> 00:21:59,760 Speaker 1: know how to act on a dime to get in 354 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:02,640 Speaker 1: an out of this port and trust that they will 355 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:05,880 Speaker 1: be serviced when they come in. In addition to all that, 356 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:08,920 Speaker 1: we've given the Secretary of five point plan that also 357 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:13,719 Speaker 1: includes investment and information but also trade policy and working 358 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:17,480 Speaker 1: on the digitization aspects. So these discussions are taking place 359 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:19,919 Speaker 1: ongoing with our partners here on the ground locally in 360 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:23,560 Speaker 1: southern California, as well as the highest levels in today's government. 361 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:28,399 Speaker 1: So just on the subject of technology and digitization, So 362 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:30,359 Speaker 1: this is something that I was wondering. But you know, 363 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:35,320 Speaker 1: we talked about containers as a revolutionary technology. The ability 364 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:40,400 Speaker 1: to standardize shipments really contributed to the globalization and trade 365 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:44,359 Speaker 1: that we've seen um in recent decades. But on the 366 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:48,199 Speaker 1: other hand, containers now are you know, a technology that 367 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:51,880 Speaker 1: was invented in the sixties or seventies, and I don't 368 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:55,480 Speaker 1: think we've had a significant update to that tech in 369 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:58,240 Speaker 1: the time since. So I'm just wondering, is there something 370 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:03,159 Speaker 1: more fundamental that it be changed about containers or where 371 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:09,520 Speaker 1: is the next area of potential innovation? A couple of fronts, 372 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:11,919 Speaker 1: I think on the digitization spot, folks want to know 373 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:14,679 Speaker 1: where their their shipments are at what time, so they 374 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:17,720 Speaker 1: can not only trace them compared to a proform a schedule, 375 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:21,600 Speaker 1: but also in act what we call exception management. So 376 00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:25,560 Speaker 1: if something's going against a schedule or not uh in 377 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:28,679 Speaker 1: line with the rival dates UH, the importer of record 378 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:32,360 Speaker 1: can act on that and take decisive steps to move 379 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:34,920 Speaker 1: the cargo along a little bit quicker. But the interesting 380 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:38,080 Speaker 1: thing about the container is that it naturally sits for 381 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:40,880 Speaker 1: some time. It's not like us moving on and off 382 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:45,719 Speaker 1: airplanes or driving on freeways and tollways. A container loads 383 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:47,920 Speaker 1: on a ship in Asia and it will sit in 384 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 1: that same position for anywhere from fifteen to thirty days 385 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:56,040 Speaker 1: before it reaches its shore of discharge. Once it reaches there, 386 00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:59,080 Speaker 1: there'll be a spot for it specifically to move, and 387 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:01,520 Speaker 1: then it'll move on a training as our gateway being 388 00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:04,160 Speaker 1: the example, and that will take another five to seven 389 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:06,920 Speaker 1: days to get to destination. So you're not seeing these 390 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:10,359 Speaker 1: incremental moves that specific areas of time. What you do 391 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:12,159 Speaker 1: see is the points of rest, and that's been a 392 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:15,840 Speaker 1: problem for us here in Los Angeles, for example, we've 393 00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:18,160 Speaker 1: got ships at anchor because all those other nodes are 394 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:20,240 Speaker 1: backed up as I mentioned to you, But once a 395 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:23,560 Speaker 1: container gets on the ground at our marine terminal here 396 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:26,760 Speaker 1: in Los Angeles, it's sitting for an average of five days. 397 00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:30,080 Speaker 1: Pre COVID or presearch it sat for two to two 398 00:24:30,119 --> 00:24:33,400 Speaker 1: and a half days. So the velocity has been slowed down, 399 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:36,159 Speaker 1: and there's so much cargo coming in folks don't have 400 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:39,720 Speaker 1: a place to put it. Once it leaves our port 401 00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:44,200 Speaker 1: facility by truck, it's sitting in average of about eight 402 00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:47,560 Speaker 1: to nine days now, which is nearly three times what 403 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:51,320 Speaker 1: it was pre search, and that adds a tremendous amount 404 00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:54,119 Speaker 1: of cycle time. So when folks start talking about a 405 00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:58,400 Speaker 1: limited supply of containers, it's because they're sitting longer than 406 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:02,520 Speaker 1: they're normally planned to do so. And here in southern California, 407 00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:05,760 Speaker 1: underneath that container our trailer wheels or chassis as we 408 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:09,120 Speaker 1: call them in the industry. If those are dislocated for 409 00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:11,879 Speaker 1: nine days out on the street with a container, the 410 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:14,880 Speaker 1: next round of imports have a difficult time matching up 411 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:17,399 Speaker 1: those trailer wheels to get the box out of the 412 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:20,959 Speaker 1: port property. The third piece on what we call these 413 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:24,080 Speaker 1: dwell times is related to the rail system, and with 414 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:27,199 Speaker 1: a paucity of exports, as we've described so far, this 415 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:32,600 Speaker 1: one way trade is hitting our western railroads successively each 416 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:35,200 Speaker 1: and every day. There used to be a time when 417 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:38,040 Speaker 1: we had ten ships coming into port every day that 418 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:40,160 Speaker 1: you'd have a day or two to kind of clean 419 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:43,400 Speaker 1: up the terminal yard, get your rail cars managed, put 420 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:45,399 Speaker 1: them in place with the engine power and the crewing. 421 00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:48,520 Speaker 1: Now it's an all out departure from Los Angeles to 422 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:51,199 Speaker 1: the interior of the country, and at the same time, 423 00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:55,840 Speaker 1: the cargo is sitting longer at those interior points. For example, 424 00:25:56,160 --> 00:26:00,000 Speaker 1: the Union Pacific Railroad recently slowed down cargo to Chicago 425 00:26:00,359 --> 00:26:04,360 Speaker 1: because they had twenty five miles of trains sitting outside 426 00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:07,639 Speaker 1: of Global for Joliet, where cargo owners were not picking 427 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:11,040 Speaker 1: up that inbound product the way they had used to. 428 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:13,719 Speaker 1: So it slows down the whole system. And now you 429 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:16,600 Speaker 1: see it from Chicago to Los Angeles back to the 430 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:20,600 Speaker 1: water into Asia. I wanna do let dive deeper into 431 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:24,240 Speaker 1: some of these congestions, but I'm curious, like one factor 432 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:27,840 Speaker 1: that um kinda sort of different. There are a lot 433 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:30,320 Speaker 1: of fires this year, a lot of heat this year. 434 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:33,399 Speaker 1: People talk about the role of a contribution of climate 435 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:37,720 Speaker 1: change or climate disasters to some of these shipping tensions. 436 00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:39,879 Speaker 1: How do you see that from your perspective? How is 437 00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:43,200 Speaker 1: that adding to some of the adding to the difficulties 438 00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:47,400 Speaker 1: this year? We could we could do another show Joe 439 00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:50,840 Speaker 1: on climate change alone. But what I will tell you 440 00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:54,040 Speaker 1: is this that many more folks in our industry, at 441 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,280 Speaker 1: the highest levels down the family businesses, are very concerned 442 00:26:57,320 --> 00:26:59,840 Speaker 1: about that and what they can do to make this 443 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:03,560 Speaker 1: a better place. Second, when it comes to the wildfires 444 00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:07,320 Speaker 1: in California and the drought. We've seen a couple of 445 00:27:07,359 --> 00:27:10,720 Speaker 1: things happen. Number One, it will impact rail and truck 446 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:13,320 Speaker 1: service if we can't get over the Cahoon Pass, where 447 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:16,560 Speaker 1: we can't go out the ten Freeway to the inland 448 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:20,240 Speaker 1: Empire where the majority of these warehouses are located. The 449 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:23,639 Speaker 1: other piece that many people don't see here outside of 450 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:28,240 Speaker 1: California is that when we get to these extreme heat waves, 451 00:27:29,119 --> 00:27:32,920 Speaker 1: the governor and the Public Utilities Commission has been shutting 452 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:36,440 Speaker 1: down power, and that power gets shut down at ports, 453 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:38,960 Speaker 1: and it stops the use of our cranes that lift 454 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:42,240 Speaker 1: the containers on and off the vessels. It also stops 455 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:46,280 Speaker 1: the use of all our alternative marine power, which was 456 00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:49,160 Speaker 1: designed to plug in a ship to the electrical grid 457 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:53,359 Speaker 1: and turn off all but the auxiliary engines, saving thousands 458 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:57,440 Speaker 1: of tons of diesel emissions with every port call. So 459 00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:00,119 Speaker 1: the impacts here are pretty wide and far with or 460 00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:04,640 Speaker 1: it be transportation environment or a combination of both. Since 461 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:08,080 Speaker 1: we're talking about UM factors that are sort of compounding 462 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:11,199 Speaker 1: the congestion issue, I wanted to touch on something that 463 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:15,840 Speaker 1: you already brought up UM, which is the trucking industry, 464 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 1: and I guess more generally labor market tightness. So we've 465 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:22,840 Speaker 1: heard a lot of discussion about this idea of a 466 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:27,879 Speaker 1: trucker shortage UM affecting the transportation industry. We've actually done 467 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:31,879 Speaker 1: an episode on it before. You're in an excellent position 468 00:28:32,119 --> 00:28:36,399 Speaker 1: to see that issue UM if it exists. So I 469 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:40,800 Speaker 1: guess my question is how worried are you about an 470 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:45,680 Speaker 1: alleged trucker shortage and how is it impacting your business? Well, 471 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:47,800 Speaker 1: this is one of the areas that we focus on 472 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:51,720 Speaker 1: a lot, and whether it's equity for drivers, the ability 473 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:56,000 Speaker 1: to get them affordable, cleaner trucks to operate, or the 474 00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:58,560 Speaker 1: amount of time they spend here at the ports simply waiting, 475 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:03,720 Speaker 1: taking away from their eleven hours of daily regulated service 476 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:07,280 Speaker 1: by the federal government. So all of that comes into play. 477 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:10,480 Speaker 1: And then from around numbers perspective, the average age of 478 00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:13,520 Speaker 1: a trucker in the country is about fifty seven and 479 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:17,480 Speaker 1: they have a attrition rate per year. So this is 480 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:19,560 Speaker 1: an area that we really want to boost up and 481 00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:23,280 Speaker 1: we're working very closely with a number of trucking associations 482 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:26,400 Speaker 1: as well as the private sector itself to try to 483 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:28,680 Speaker 1: make this a career. And we can make it a 484 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:33,120 Speaker 1: career if these folks have good working conditions, affordable machinery 485 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:36,640 Speaker 1: to run their craft, and thirdly, the ability to make 486 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:40,440 Speaker 1: multiple turns here in the port drayage business, these folks 487 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:44,320 Speaker 1: mainly work on a per run revenue rate, so for 488 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:47,520 Speaker 1: every container they haul they earn, they earn money. For 489 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:51,000 Speaker 1: every moment they sit they don't, So getting them greater 490 00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:54,800 Speaker 1: turns here at the port is important. And in good times, 491 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:57,360 Speaker 1: we're getting a trucker on average three three and a half, 492 00:29:57,400 --> 00:30:00,200 Speaker 1: maybe even four turns per day before they're our is 493 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:03,640 Speaker 1: of service run out in a healthy and safe environment. Today, 494 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:05,840 Speaker 1: i'd say that number is a lot closer to two 495 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:08,160 Speaker 1: turns a day, and that doesn't help them make a 496 00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:10,920 Speaker 1: lot of money. So you have not only the head 497 00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:14,040 Speaker 1: winds that you face nationwide with those numbers I just shared, 498 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:17,760 Speaker 1: but also an artificial shortage because it takes longer to 499 00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:19,680 Speaker 1: get in and out of the ports, and we've got 500 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:21,320 Speaker 1: to we've got to straighten that out, and that's why 501 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:24,600 Speaker 1: we've put it incentives the digitization product to open up 502 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:28,840 Speaker 1: these and illustrate these appointment times so folks can really 503 00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:31,600 Speaker 1: tap into them as quickly as possible, and real time 504 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:35,440 Speaker 1: information to show around this massive court court complex where 505 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:37,640 Speaker 1: I can get in quickst during the day, and how 506 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:40,840 Speaker 1: I can make decisions because previous to this hunting and 507 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:43,760 Speaker 1: pecking through those websites, by the time you figured out 508 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:45,360 Speaker 1: what was going on on the ground of the port, 509 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:48,760 Speaker 1: it was time to dispatch for tomorrow. What about port 510 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:52,680 Speaker 1: workers more widely? Are are they harder to hire in 511 00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:57,440 Speaker 1: the current environment? You've got different segments of folks and 512 00:30:57,440 --> 00:31:01,640 Speaker 1: and are our doc workers under the International Longshore and 513 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:06,040 Speaker 1: Warehouse Union are about fifteen thousand members strong here in 514 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:10,200 Speaker 1: Southern California alone. Uh, they have about eight thousand registered 515 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:15,200 Speaker 1: members meeting strong career folks with skilled practitioner certification. And 516 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:17,880 Speaker 1: then you've got about seven thousand apprentices or what we 517 00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:21,120 Speaker 1: call casuals that are trying to build their skills, hours 518 00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:25,040 Speaker 1: and certification to become full time employees. Those folks have 519 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:29,719 Speaker 1: been extremely strong during this surge. In fact, I'm told 520 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:33,080 Speaker 1: now by the Employers Association that the average rank and 521 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:36,480 Speaker 1: file dock worker is averaging between five and a half 522 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:39,960 Speaker 1: and six days of work every week since this surge 523 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:42,920 Speaker 1: began last June. Then you've got the warehouse workers that 524 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:46,720 Speaker 1: were really hampered by COVID because they typically work in 525 00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:50,000 Speaker 1: teams in closed spaces, and with the advice of the 526 00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:53,760 Speaker 1: medical experts, we had the physical distancing the face coverings 527 00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:56,960 Speaker 1: and gloves, but also smaller teams so we weren't bunched 528 00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:00,320 Speaker 1: in the same capacities that we were before the IRIS 529 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:04,479 Speaker 1: started to spread. So that, in part, we believe had 530 00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:08,000 Speaker 1: an effect on how slow the movement through the warehouses, 531 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:11,880 Speaker 1: distribution and fulfillment centers was and why they filled up 532 00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:15,240 Speaker 1: so quickly during this search. So all of that is 533 00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:18,040 Speaker 1: important to us. But with six point five million Americans 534 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:21,200 Speaker 1: still out of work compared to pre COVID days, we 535 00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:23,880 Speaker 1: think there are opportunities, and we've sent this to the 536 00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:28,640 Speaker 1: Secretary of Commerce, Gina Romando, to look at a national 537 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:33,160 Speaker 1: export policy. Export jobs in general, compared to other segments, 538 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:37,400 Speaker 1: pay about seventeen eighteen percent more than their competitors. Getting 539 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:40,200 Speaker 1: folks back into the areas of agriculture, which is so 540 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:44,080 Speaker 1: big here in California, throughout the country, manufacturing broadly, the 541 00:32:44,080 --> 00:32:47,560 Speaker 1: auto sector and tiered suppliers, we think will help stimulate 542 00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:49,880 Speaker 1: that trade and break down some of the barriers to 543 00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:52,840 Speaker 1: get the American export companies back in touch with their 544 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:56,360 Speaker 1: overseas customers. So there's a little bit of both tracy, 545 00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:59,360 Speaker 1: where we're trying to work on those core areas of 546 00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:02,720 Speaker 1: employment here, but also trying to expand employment and jobs 547 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:07,840 Speaker 1: creation in other areas that needed today. Gene, you mentioned 548 00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:10,960 Speaker 1: the longer Sherman and my understanding is they have a 549 00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:15,640 Speaker 1: contract that's coming up the next round sometime in Can 550 00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:19,440 Speaker 1: you tell us what you anticipate in those negotiations, like 551 00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:21,200 Speaker 1: what should we be looking for, what will be the 552 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:23,800 Speaker 1: big issues that need to be hammered out. Yeah, The 553 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:31,600 Speaker 1: I LW Pacific Maritime Association contract expires June thirty two, 554 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:34,760 Speaker 1: and while I do not speak for the union or 555 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:39,000 Speaker 1: the employers association, I think that what we'll see is 556 00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:42,520 Speaker 1: coming off a spirit of camaraderie like we've never witnessed before. 557 00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:46,200 Speaker 1: When COVID first struck and we went into the emergency 558 00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:48,800 Speaker 1: orders trying to figure out who was essential and who 559 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:51,600 Speaker 1: was not, the part of Los Angeles jumped into action. 560 00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:54,840 Speaker 1: We got cleaning materials and solutions to make sure equipment 561 00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:59,000 Speaker 1: and communications devices were safe to hand off between work efforts, 562 00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:02,640 Speaker 1: and making sure that our workers had the necessary protective 563 00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:05,720 Speaker 1: equipment to be safe on the job. Understood the medical 564 00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:11,440 Speaker 1: recommendations of the state of the county, state and federal agencies. 565 00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:15,839 Speaker 1: As we take that momentum and move into negotiations, I'm 566 00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:18,160 Speaker 1: hopeful that folks will work on the key issues that 567 00:34:18,200 --> 00:34:20,680 Speaker 1: are of great importance health and safety of the worker, 568 00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:23,520 Speaker 1: making sure that they're paid adjust wage, and we have 569 00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:27,920 Speaker 1: an opportunity for the proper transitioning as technology continues to 570 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:34,160 Speaker 1: be prevalent in our industry. But we'll also see areas discussed, 571 00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:37,600 Speaker 1: I'm sure concerning robotics and automation, which is always a 572 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:40,400 Speaker 1: flashpoint in these discussions, and then we'll see what the 573 00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:43,320 Speaker 1: future of work looks like. I believe there's going to 574 00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:46,200 Speaker 1: be a day in the not too distant future where mechanics, 575 00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:49,800 Speaker 1: as an example, who are skilled on multi tiered levels, 576 00:34:50,080 --> 00:34:53,719 Speaker 1: will be operating with computers and not just wrenches. We'll 577 00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:57,640 Speaker 1: have to make sure that there is training and development opportunity, 578 00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:01,840 Speaker 1: up skilling and reskilling of our labor force to tackle 579 00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:04,880 Speaker 1: the needs of the future supply chain. So all of 580 00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:07,880 Speaker 1: that and more will probably be discussed and we'll be 581 00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:10,640 Speaker 1: doing our level best. You may remember that Mere Garcetti 582 00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:13,960 Speaker 1: and I were pretty visible during the last negotiation and 583 00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:18,719 Speaker 1: at the proper time. President Barack Obama dispatched then US 584 00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:21,320 Speaker 1: Labor Secretary Tom Perez to bring it home over the 585 00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:25,040 Speaker 1: last seven days and help complete the tentative contract. So 586 00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:26,719 Speaker 1: there'll be a lot of people around. There will be 587 00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:28,960 Speaker 1: some of us around who have got pretty good experience 588 00:35:29,239 --> 00:35:31,879 Speaker 1: and want to keep that cargo moving. But I will 589 00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:34,360 Speaker 1: leave it to the experts on both sides of the table, 590 00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:37,200 Speaker 1: who we work with very closely on a daily basis, 591 00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:40,560 Speaker 1: to shepherd us through this contract negotiation, get us out 592 00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:43,680 Speaker 1: the other side with good worker protections and companies that 593 00:35:43,680 --> 00:35:47,560 Speaker 1: can move the cargo swiftly for the American consumer um. 594 00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:50,839 Speaker 1: Speaking of the American consumers, so one of our most 595 00:35:50,880 --> 00:35:54,759 Speaker 1: read stories at the moment is about seafood shortages and 596 00:35:54,840 --> 00:36:00,440 Speaker 1: some seafood restaurants cutting things like scallops and other fish 597 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:03,719 Speaker 1: stuff off of their menus. And one of the things 598 00:36:03,719 --> 00:36:07,000 Speaker 1: we've heard is that there are perishable items such as 599 00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:10,319 Speaker 1: you know, fresh fish um that are getting stuck at 600 00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:13,960 Speaker 1: various ports. So I'm just curious, is there anything you 601 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:19,640 Speaker 1: can do to prioritize shipments of perishable goods or groceries. 602 00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:21,760 Speaker 1: Is that something that you do on a regular basis, 603 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:24,040 Speaker 1: Is it something that's become more of an issue given 604 00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:28,560 Speaker 1: the current congestion issues. And then secondly, you know, not 605 00:36:28,640 --> 00:36:32,680 Speaker 1: all choke points are good. Shortages are created equal, and 606 00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:35,360 Speaker 1: the American government has expressed a lot of concern about, 607 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:39,560 Speaker 1: for instance, a shortage of semiconductors um that then hits 608 00:36:39,640 --> 00:36:43,359 Speaker 1: the manufacturing industry. So I'm just wondering, do you make 609 00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:47,480 Speaker 1: exceptions for prioritizing either perishable goods or goods that are 610 00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:52,040 Speaker 1: sort of deemed as strategic or economically important for the US, 611 00:36:52,080 --> 00:36:56,120 Speaker 1: like semiconductors. Yes, on both, then I'll explain a little 612 00:36:56,120 --> 00:36:59,719 Speaker 1: bit about each. For perishable commodities, we do an appreciable 613 00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:02,080 Speaker 1: business this here from Asia as well as the West 614 00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:05,000 Speaker 1: coast of South America. And I think the easiest way 615 00:37:05,040 --> 00:37:07,600 Speaker 1: to put it is that a white colored box with 616 00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:10,280 Speaker 1: an engine on the front is typically a refrigerated box. 617 00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:14,600 Speaker 1: Those of other color schemes for the company's logos are 618 00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:18,200 Speaker 1: traditionally the nonperishable or dry boxes. So you've got not 619 00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:20,440 Speaker 1: only a line of sight if you're a dock worker 620 00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:23,400 Speaker 1: looking at these, but we have plans across the board 621 00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:27,920 Speaker 1: in the industry lining up these refrigerated boxes in certain 622 00:37:28,040 --> 00:37:31,080 Speaker 1: areas or what we call bays on the vessel for 623 00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:35,080 Speaker 1: stowage purposes has been a core competency in the industry 624 00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:38,680 Speaker 1: for decades now, so we know exactly where these containers 625 00:37:38,719 --> 00:37:42,960 Speaker 1: are of the perishable variety on a particular ship at 626 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:46,759 Speaker 1: any time during its voyage. Typically those are prioritized to 627 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:50,279 Speaker 1: be unloaded early in the sequencing of discharge, and they 628 00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:53,120 Speaker 1: are placed at a certain location on the terminal where 629 00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:57,480 Speaker 1: they're plugged in immediately to the electrical grid UH here locally, 630 00:37:57,520 --> 00:38:00,359 Speaker 1: as an example in Los Angeles, the line up side 631 00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:03,279 Speaker 1: of the dock worker the trucker. The logistition is all 632 00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:07,439 Speaker 1: right there with that type of product. And fortunately, as 633 00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:10,680 Speaker 1: we've continued to plan in those areas, we have not 634 00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:14,160 Speaker 1: heard or witnessed too many service failures to this point 635 00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:17,680 Speaker 1: because of this huge surge of cargo that are perishables 636 00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:21,680 Speaker 1: are going unserviced and uh and going bad on the 637 00:38:21,719 --> 00:38:25,040 Speaker 1: other side with respect to priority products. This is where 638 00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:29,240 Speaker 1: digitization really comes in and shows its wares. Being able 639 00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:33,560 Speaker 1: to have highlighted in our port community system. The port optimizer, 640 00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:37,080 Speaker 1: what cargo is hot as we call it, or prioritized 641 00:38:37,400 --> 00:38:39,600 Speaker 1: to make sure that we can really speed it through 642 00:38:39,600 --> 00:38:43,600 Speaker 1: the system has been also a competency that's been driven 643 00:38:44,120 --> 00:38:46,880 Speaker 1: by this digitization product. So I think we're doing a 644 00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:50,680 Speaker 1: pretty fair job as an industry. There's much more improvement 645 00:38:50,719 --> 00:38:54,480 Speaker 1: that we must we must participate in, and in fact, 646 00:38:54,520 --> 00:38:59,440 Speaker 1: we categorize for public consumption our metrics around how long 647 00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:02,200 Speaker 1: container sit, where they're going to be going to next, 648 00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:05,160 Speaker 1: what the next movement is. And while we've just recently 649 00:39:05,239 --> 00:39:10,640 Speaker 1: uncovered some real problematic areas of containers sitting for enormous 650 00:39:10,680 --> 00:39:13,160 Speaker 1: amounts of time, we're doing a pretty good job on 651 00:39:13,239 --> 00:39:15,319 Speaker 1: speeding up the containers that we have a line of 652 00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:19,320 Speaker 1: sight on earlier in the path from Asia to Los Angeles. 653 00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:22,600 Speaker 1: So we've got to keep pulling people together, working and 654 00:39:22,640 --> 00:39:26,640 Speaker 1: bringing folks at the confluence here of all these service 655 00:39:26,680 --> 00:39:29,759 Speaker 1: providers activities right here at the port to stepping it 656 00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:32,160 Speaker 1: up every day, especially in times when we've got so 657 00:39:32,239 --> 00:39:35,480 Speaker 1: much gargo to manage and easily things could slip through 658 00:39:35,520 --> 00:39:39,759 Speaker 1: the craft gene. You know. The first I think the 659 00:39:39,880 --> 00:39:42,879 Speaker 1: first episode that we did and maybe even its back 660 00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:45,040 Speaker 1: in January when we started looking at supply chains and 661 00:39:45,080 --> 00:39:48,520 Speaker 1: we talked to Mark Levinson, who is the economist and 662 00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:50,680 Speaker 1: author of the book The Box and one of the 663 00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:53,040 Speaker 1: things that's come up that he brought up, and it's 664 00:39:53,040 --> 00:39:56,640 Speaker 1: come up in some of Bloomberg's reporting, is the trend 665 00:39:56,800 --> 00:40:01,719 Speaker 1: of much larger vessels and and they take longer to 666 00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:05,160 Speaker 1: get in and out, they're less efficient, and as Mark 667 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:09,640 Speaker 1: pointed out, they also take longer to unload their wider 668 00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:12,279 Speaker 1: and so the mechanical arms have to go deeper into them. 669 00:40:12,719 --> 00:40:15,040 Speaker 1: How big of an issue is that, the sort of 670 00:40:15,200 --> 00:40:18,799 Speaker 1: ongoing increase in vessel size, and how much does that 671 00:40:18,840 --> 00:40:22,719 Speaker 1: contribute to bottlenecks at the ports when so many just 672 00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:27,239 Speaker 1: sort of very large ships are all there at once. Yeah, 673 00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:31,200 Speaker 1: I think it's a variable in the equation across a 674 00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:34,520 Speaker 1: number of areas. First to answer the question, I think 675 00:40:34,560 --> 00:40:38,280 Speaker 1: it's one that has to be thought of very carefully, 676 00:40:38,280 --> 00:40:40,440 Speaker 1: because you think big ship, you load a lot of containers, 677 00:40:40,480 --> 00:40:42,959 Speaker 1: and then you go from there. But as you rightly say, 678 00:40:43,040 --> 00:40:46,919 Speaker 1: you've got landside opportunities, you've got timing with schedules, et cetera. 679 00:40:47,120 --> 00:40:49,800 Speaker 1: But I'll give you one stat that I think I 680 00:40:49,800 --> 00:40:53,799 Speaker 1: I'm most impressed with here, and that's eleven thousand. At 681 00:40:53,800 --> 00:40:57,719 Speaker 1: the Port of Los Angeles, we're averaging an exchange of 682 00:40:57,800 --> 00:41:03,040 Speaker 1: eleven thousand container units per vessel call, which today is 683 00:41:03,080 --> 00:41:06,640 Speaker 1: the best in the world. So even as the ships 684 00:41:06,640 --> 00:41:10,320 Speaker 1: have gotten larger and wider, as you say, Joe coming 685 00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:12,879 Speaker 1: in here, the work that's done for every vessel call, 686 00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:16,719 Speaker 1: we're moving more cargo per vessel than anybody else on 687 00:41:16,719 --> 00:41:20,560 Speaker 1: the face of the earth. Now that comes with adaptation 688 00:41:20,680 --> 00:41:23,279 Speaker 1: as well. Used to be when I started off in 689 00:41:23,320 --> 00:41:27,600 Speaker 1: the industry, a big ship was container units. Today, the 690 00:41:27,640 --> 00:41:31,400 Speaker 1: port of Los Angeles, fortunately with a lot of forethought 691 00:41:31,440 --> 00:41:34,920 Speaker 1: from my predecessors, has been able to welcome the largest 692 00:41:34,920 --> 00:41:38,400 Speaker 1: ships in the world at twenty three thousand container units 693 00:41:38,840 --> 00:41:41,640 Speaker 1: and work them without a hitch. But they take longer, 694 00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:44,359 Speaker 1: So you've got to line up more trains. You've got 695 00:41:44,360 --> 00:41:46,920 Speaker 1: to have more land on your terminals to service them. 696 00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:49,439 Speaker 1: Because you've got more containers. You've got to be able 697 00:41:49,480 --> 00:41:52,320 Speaker 1: to get truck gates in and out over a wider 698 00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:55,160 Speaker 1: time frame than just working eight to five during the 699 00:41:55,239 --> 00:41:58,160 Speaker 1: day as we had done for for decades in the past. 700 00:41:58,520 --> 00:42:01,040 Speaker 1: So there has to be a just spent all the 701 00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:04,239 Speaker 1: way and along the way. But the key for the 702 00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:07,720 Speaker 1: liner shipping companies is if they can put a six 703 00:42:07,800 --> 00:42:11,839 Speaker 1: ship rotation in from North Asia to Los Angeles and 704 00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:16,799 Speaker 1: they can leave Shanghai every Monday morning at eight and 705 00:42:16,840 --> 00:42:19,839 Speaker 1: do that consecutively week in and week out. Then we're 706 00:42:19,880 --> 00:42:22,560 Speaker 1: doing our job here right now, that's not the case 707 00:42:22,680 --> 00:42:25,520 Speaker 1: because of all those congestion points that we've talked about 708 00:42:25,920 --> 00:42:29,040 Speaker 1: during the show. But that's the task at hand, So 709 00:42:29,080 --> 00:42:31,799 Speaker 1: the bigger vessel can be managed. Adjustments have to be 710 00:42:31,840 --> 00:42:34,680 Speaker 1: made landside, they have to be made on the water side. 711 00:42:34,920 --> 00:42:38,960 Speaker 1: But the work of these longshoreman women and logisticitions in 712 00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:42,920 Speaker 1: our marketplace in southern California, where the institutional knowledge, I 713 00:42:42,960 --> 00:42:45,920 Speaker 1: would also say is world class, has been proven to 714 00:42:45,960 --> 00:43:06,719 Speaker 1: be a net positive for us. So one of the 715 00:43:06,719 --> 00:43:09,799 Speaker 1: themes that keeps coming up on all these supply chain 716 00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:14,920 Speaker 1: or logistics episodes is the idea of expectations. And at 717 00:43:14,960 --> 00:43:17,799 Speaker 1: the beginning of the pandemic, everyone thought we were going 718 00:43:17,840 --> 00:43:20,680 Speaker 1: into a deep, deep recession, we were going to get 719 00:43:20,680 --> 00:43:24,560 Speaker 1: a massive pull back by US consumers, and of course 720 00:43:24,800 --> 00:43:27,400 Speaker 1: the opposite ended up happening, and we had this huge 721 00:43:27,440 --> 00:43:30,000 Speaker 1: import boom as everyone stay at home and ordered a 722 00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:32,720 Speaker 1: bunch of stuff online or you know, redid their houses, 723 00:43:32,800 --> 00:43:36,239 Speaker 1: that sort of thing. I'm just wondering with the benefit 724 00:43:36,680 --> 00:43:40,560 Speaker 1: of hindsight, Is there anything you would have done differently 725 00:43:40,800 --> 00:43:45,960 Speaker 1: over the past twelve or fifteen months. Yeah. Sure, And 726 00:43:46,080 --> 00:43:50,200 Speaker 1: a number of things start with our natural convening powers 727 00:43:50,239 --> 00:43:52,760 Speaker 1: to bring people together. As I mentioned to your, industry 728 00:43:52,800 --> 00:43:56,360 Speaker 1: tends to be a little bit siloed. Private sector companies 729 00:43:56,480 --> 00:44:00,720 Speaker 1: really work with their customers closely. Broader and rader good 730 00:44:00,840 --> 00:44:05,200 Speaker 1: is not normally in the front of mine for many 731 00:44:05,239 --> 00:44:07,600 Speaker 1: folks in the industry. So bringing people together a little 732 00:44:07,640 --> 00:44:11,080 Speaker 1: bit earlier, although the information was moving fast and most 733 00:44:11,120 --> 00:44:12,799 Speaker 1: of us were trying to take care of the health 734 00:44:12,840 --> 00:44:17,160 Speaker 1: and safety of our worker, our staff, our families, that 735 00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:21,200 Speaker 1: probably could have been sped up a little bit. But again, Tracy, 736 00:44:21,239 --> 00:44:23,480 Speaker 1: as I mentioned to you, we we had a press 737 00:44:23,560 --> 00:44:27,000 Speaker 1: conference with the results of our main numbers. We were down. 738 00:44:28,440 --> 00:44:32,160 Speaker 1: And although I saw the pendulum moving about three times 739 00:44:32,239 --> 00:44:35,760 Speaker 1: because we saw unevenness in the supply chain, you probably 740 00:44:35,800 --> 00:44:38,320 Speaker 1: needed to get people to the table a little bit quicker. 741 00:44:38,760 --> 00:44:43,919 Speaker 1: I think. Secondly, prepositioning assets knowing that we were gonna 742 00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:47,080 Speaker 1: have a one way trade episode also would have helped 743 00:44:47,160 --> 00:44:49,799 Speaker 1: us maybe a little faster. And thirdly, I wish I 744 00:44:49,840 --> 00:44:52,439 Speaker 1: pushed on that past administration even more than I did 745 00:44:52,800 --> 00:44:56,800 Speaker 1: to rectify these ill advised trade policies. We have absolutely 746 00:44:57,239 --> 00:45:01,080 Speaker 1: hurt the American farmer and the American exporter oddly, and 747 00:45:01,120 --> 00:45:04,319 Speaker 1: that has been if we look back, something in the 748 00:45:04,400 --> 00:45:09,920 Speaker 1: systemic portion that has really amplified this area of how 749 00:45:09,920 --> 00:45:12,560 Speaker 1: do you handle the search right because it's all one 750 00:45:12,600 --> 00:45:15,000 Speaker 1: way trade, and if you can't bring back the assets, 751 00:45:15,080 --> 00:45:18,080 Speaker 1: the crew and the power fast enough that you're gonna 752 00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:20,520 Speaker 1: wind up in a situation like we are right now. 753 00:45:20,920 --> 00:45:25,400 Speaker 1: But I think the industry generally has managed this unprecedented 754 00:45:25,480 --> 00:45:30,520 Speaker 1: volume better than most had expected. We usually run a 755 00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:33,799 Speaker 1: supply chain under the radar where folks don't want to 756 00:45:33,840 --> 00:45:37,600 Speaker 1: talk to us on shows like this unless something's going wrong. 757 00:45:38,040 --> 00:45:40,719 Speaker 1: And our business day to day is just that it's 758 00:45:40,760 --> 00:45:44,560 Speaker 1: moving America's economy. It's keeping people employed and making sure 759 00:45:44,600 --> 00:45:48,160 Speaker 1: those store shelves and those front porches have our groceries 760 00:45:48,200 --> 00:45:50,680 Speaker 1: and toys and goods on them. And when it doesn't 761 00:45:50,680 --> 00:45:52,759 Speaker 1: go that way, I think in the industry you say, 762 00:45:52,800 --> 00:45:54,680 Speaker 1: if it bleeds, it leads, and that's what we've been 763 00:45:54,680 --> 00:45:57,840 Speaker 1: seeing that folks are now interested because you've got shortages 764 00:45:57,880 --> 00:46:01,799 Speaker 1: across the board, and whether it be the advent of 765 00:46:02,280 --> 00:46:06,360 Speaker 1: the price of lumber doubling and tripling, the way that 766 00:46:06,440 --> 00:46:10,480 Speaker 1: housing starts look, the purchases of homes, and the folks 767 00:46:10,480 --> 00:46:14,680 Speaker 1: who wanted to redo this. I think from a prognosticator standpoint, 768 00:46:14,719 --> 00:46:17,680 Speaker 1: it would have been pretty tough to hit a royal 769 00:46:17,719 --> 00:46:21,719 Speaker 1: flush on all of these issues at one time. Well, 770 00:46:21,800 --> 00:46:24,440 Speaker 1: it is true that we probably wouldn't have been doing 771 00:46:24,480 --> 00:46:26,640 Speaker 1: so many episodes had it not been for all this tension, 772 00:46:26,719 --> 00:46:30,000 Speaker 1: but it really has been great to learn all this stuff. 773 00:46:30,040 --> 00:46:32,120 Speaker 1: You know, we just have a few more minutes left, 774 00:46:32,160 --> 00:46:34,120 Speaker 1: but I want to talk a little bit about the 775 00:46:34,160 --> 00:46:37,799 Speaker 1: future a little bit. Christmas people, there's been talking, okay, 776 00:46:37,800 --> 00:46:40,200 Speaker 1: are we gonna is Christmas gonna get disrupted? Are they're 777 00:46:40,239 --> 00:46:43,080 Speaker 1: gonna be problems getting toys? So I guess another two 778 00:46:43,080 --> 00:46:46,880 Speaker 1: parter a is Christmas gonna be disrupted and be to 779 00:46:46,960 --> 00:46:52,120 Speaker 1: what extent are retailers pulling forward orders even more because 780 00:46:52,200 --> 00:46:55,719 Speaker 1: they're worried about Christmas? And to what extent is that 781 00:46:55,800 --> 00:46:59,640 Speaker 1: pull forward effect contributing to the ongoing congestion. I'll go 782 00:46:59,719 --> 00:47:02,719 Speaker 1: on record and say no, Christmas will not be disrupted. 783 00:47:02,760 --> 00:47:06,160 Speaker 1: It will happen on decep again this year, but we're 784 00:47:06,160 --> 00:47:08,080 Speaker 1: going to have to do a lot of jumping through 785 00:47:08,120 --> 00:47:10,960 Speaker 1: hoops like we've done in the past to help out folks. 786 00:47:10,960 --> 00:47:13,319 Speaker 1: I'll give you the example of the toy importers right 787 00:47:13,800 --> 00:47:16,080 Speaker 1: most of their revenue was made up over a ten 788 00:47:16,160 --> 00:47:19,120 Speaker 1: week span, even less in some cases, during the course 789 00:47:19,160 --> 00:47:22,000 Speaker 1: of a year. And this is everyone from the large 790 00:47:22,080 --> 00:47:25,719 Speaker 1: multinationals to the small family owned business that's maybe third 791 00:47:25,800 --> 00:47:28,239 Speaker 1: or fourth generation today, or the folks that are just 792 00:47:28,320 --> 00:47:32,279 Speaker 1: starting up their companies. So we understand the importance. And 793 00:47:32,600 --> 00:47:34,520 Speaker 1: with all the folks that are paying attention to the the 794 00:47:34,600 --> 00:47:37,640 Speaker 1: supply chain today, we don't shy away from the spotlight. 795 00:47:38,440 --> 00:47:41,560 Speaker 1: The look at what we see right now, Joe, is 796 00:47:41,640 --> 00:47:45,440 Speaker 1: that we're pivoting this moment between this surge and our 797 00:47:45,480 --> 00:47:49,640 Speaker 1: traditional peak season. So we're starting to see back to 798 00:47:49,680 --> 00:47:53,960 Speaker 1: school products, fall fashion, even Halloween items start to come in. 799 00:47:54,400 --> 00:47:57,319 Speaker 1: And yes, to answer your question, a number of retailers 800 00:47:57,320 --> 00:48:00,799 Speaker 1: have told me they're trying their level best to pull 801 00:48:00,880 --> 00:48:05,000 Speaker 1: forward inventory. Get it in a little earlier. My advice 802 00:48:05,080 --> 00:48:08,320 Speaker 1: to families and friends who asked me by your holiday 803 00:48:08,440 --> 00:48:11,280 Speaker 1: gifts a little bit earlier this year as well, get online, 804 00:48:11,320 --> 00:48:13,279 Speaker 1: go to the store and try to pre plan. I 805 00:48:13,320 --> 00:48:15,200 Speaker 1: know I'm a last minute guy, but even I'm going 806 00:48:15,239 --> 00:48:17,600 Speaker 1: to have to pivot a little bit this year. But 807 00:48:17,760 --> 00:48:21,239 Speaker 1: also what we're seeing, and this comes directly from the merchandise, 808 00:48:21,440 --> 00:48:25,800 Speaker 1: is that these big retail chains is that their manufacturers 809 00:48:25,800 --> 00:48:28,279 Speaker 1: are behind on their orders as well. I mean, you 810 00:48:28,320 --> 00:48:31,400 Speaker 1: think about everything that's happened over the last seventeen to 811 00:48:31,480 --> 00:48:35,400 Speaker 1: eighteen months. Even the factories in Asia are working around 812 00:48:35,440 --> 00:48:37,640 Speaker 1: the clock trying to pick up every order they can 813 00:48:37,840 --> 00:48:41,520 Speaker 1: and fulfill them, and they're struggling as well. But their 814 00:48:41,560 --> 00:48:45,400 Speaker 1: output is higher than ever on record. So it's a 815 00:48:45,400 --> 00:48:49,480 Speaker 1: matter of are you matching yourself up against aspirations that 816 00:48:49,560 --> 00:48:52,840 Speaker 1: may not be attained versus are you just really blowing 817 00:48:52,880 --> 00:48:55,120 Speaker 1: out numbers that no one's ever seen on the face 818 00:48:55,160 --> 00:48:57,560 Speaker 1: of the earth. To how do you get the American 819 00:48:57,600 --> 00:49:00,560 Speaker 1: consumer in a good place? And that's why building confidence 820 00:49:00,600 --> 00:49:04,640 Speaker 1: on within your supply chain. We also loved the President's 821 00:49:04,680 --> 00:49:08,680 Speaker 1: executive order on supply chain here again it's putting focus 822 00:49:08,719 --> 00:49:11,280 Speaker 1: where we needed to, whether it be agriculture, the chips 823 00:49:11,320 --> 00:49:14,880 Speaker 1: that Tracy mentioned and those going into cars and washers 824 00:49:14,880 --> 00:49:18,160 Speaker 1: and dryers, just about everything we have today. We've got 825 00:49:18,160 --> 00:49:19,840 Speaker 1: to get a line of sight on what this means 826 00:49:19,920 --> 00:49:22,719 Speaker 1: and There is a difference in the supply chain between 827 00:49:22,840 --> 00:49:27,919 Speaker 1: sourcing and procurement, transportation, the chain itself, the delivery and distribution. 828 00:49:28,320 --> 00:49:31,239 Speaker 1: So delineating all those segments and trying to just keep 829 00:49:31,280 --> 00:49:33,680 Speaker 1: fine tuning them is the job of leaders in this 830 00:49:33,760 --> 00:49:37,879 Speaker 1: industry today. I guess the I was about to say 831 00:49:37,880 --> 00:49:40,800 Speaker 1: the million dollar question, but it's probably closer to a trillion. 832 00:49:41,360 --> 00:49:44,560 Speaker 1: How long do you expect the congestion issues to go 833 00:49:44,600 --> 00:49:46,600 Speaker 1: on for? It will be a while. There was a 834 00:49:46,600 --> 00:49:50,520 Speaker 1: major retailer that told me that their inventory system nationwide, 835 00:49:50,560 --> 00:49:54,319 Speaker 1: retailer with over three thousand stories said their inventory right 836 00:49:54,320 --> 00:49:57,160 Speaker 1: now is it about forty percent of an acceptable level. 837 00:49:57,480 --> 00:50:00,920 Speaker 1: So even as we passed through these, uh the seasonal 838 00:50:00,960 --> 00:50:03,759 Speaker 1: effects that I just mentioned, these guys are gonna keep 839 00:50:03,800 --> 00:50:06,400 Speaker 1: buying and buying and buying. As we go into the 840 00:50:06,480 --> 00:50:08,520 Speaker 1: latter part of the fall, we're gonna get those last 841 00:50:08,560 --> 00:50:11,200 Speaker 1: minute orders coming through, and we're gonna have to thread 842 00:50:11,239 --> 00:50:14,800 Speaker 1: this needle from a mile away just about every transaction 843 00:50:15,120 --> 00:50:17,680 Speaker 1: to get it done. What I do see, Tracy, is 844 00:50:18,360 --> 00:50:22,040 Speaker 1: given where we stand right now with the delta variant, 845 00:50:22,280 --> 00:50:24,439 Speaker 1: that's gonna go a long way to telling us where 846 00:50:24,440 --> 00:50:27,279 Speaker 1: we're gonna wind up because we're starting to see here 847 00:50:27,280 --> 00:50:31,400 Speaker 1: in southern California, and I follow this nationwide. The number 848 00:50:31,440 --> 00:50:36,959 Speaker 1: of diagnosed illnesses are going up rapidly, hospitalizations, even fatalities, 849 00:50:37,200 --> 00:50:40,840 Speaker 1: many of which unfortunately due to folks who are unvaccinated. 850 00:50:41,040 --> 00:50:44,399 Speaker 1: But it's hampering the rest of us. And I had 851 00:50:44,400 --> 00:50:49,120 Speaker 1: an outlook that basically said after Lunar New Year and 852 00:50:49,200 --> 00:50:51,840 Speaker 1: into the first quarter, we'd start to see a leveling 853 00:50:52,080 --> 00:50:55,520 Speaker 1: of this import freight, not a steep decline, but leveling 854 00:50:55,840 --> 00:50:59,439 Speaker 1: because we as the American consumer, would go back more 855 00:51:00,080 --> 00:51:04,200 Speaker 1: more wholly into the service sector, getting back on airplanes, 856 00:51:04,440 --> 00:51:07,040 Speaker 1: going out to ball games, and restaurants, going to the movies, 857 00:51:07,320 --> 00:51:09,520 Speaker 1: and that may slow a little bit, so we may 858 00:51:09,640 --> 00:51:13,000 Speaker 1: keep buying online for a while. We also have to 859 00:51:13,080 --> 00:51:16,359 Speaker 1: look at, as I mentioned, squeezing all the opportunities out 860 00:51:16,360 --> 00:51:19,400 Speaker 1: of the port complex that we can, but in unison 861 00:51:19,520 --> 00:51:23,480 Speaker 1: with these other folks, the warehouses, the railroads, trucks, et cetera. 862 00:51:23,520 --> 00:51:26,239 Speaker 1: In the shipping lines, I want to squeeze more productivity 863 00:51:26,239 --> 00:51:28,239 Speaker 1: out of the port, meaning if we have to work 864 00:51:28,280 --> 00:51:31,600 Speaker 1: flex ships, if we have to open a little bit earlier. Now, again, 865 00:51:31,680 --> 00:51:34,360 Speaker 1: these are agreements between labor and management that have to 866 00:51:34,360 --> 00:51:37,759 Speaker 1: be worked out through a collective bargaining agreement, but I 867 00:51:37,760 --> 00:51:40,200 Speaker 1: think there's some opportunity to add a little bit in 868 00:51:40,200 --> 00:51:43,080 Speaker 1: the mornings, a little bit later at night, and get 869 00:51:43,120 --> 00:51:46,000 Speaker 1: the truckers and others confident that we can move the 870 00:51:46,040 --> 00:51:48,640 Speaker 1: cargo through and service them. That's all going to play 871 00:51:48,640 --> 00:51:50,600 Speaker 1: into this as well. But this is going to be 872 00:51:50,640 --> 00:51:53,479 Speaker 1: a strong second half of the year. I don't see 873 00:51:53,520 --> 00:51:56,800 Speaker 1: us chipping down too much on these anchorage numbers beyond 874 00:51:56,840 --> 00:51:59,320 Speaker 1: what we've been attempting to do. So far, we're about 875 00:51:59,320 --> 00:52:01,640 Speaker 1: half of where we were at the highest point. We 876 00:52:01,719 --> 00:52:04,719 Speaker 1: got down to single digits, and then the South China 877 00:52:04,760 --> 00:52:06,799 Speaker 1: folks came back to work off of their third wave 878 00:52:06,840 --> 00:52:09,719 Speaker 1: of COVID. So we're gonna keep watching the incoming and 879 00:52:09,760 --> 00:52:13,000 Speaker 1: try to take advantage of all the opportunities to push 880 00:52:13,000 --> 00:52:14,920 Speaker 1: the car go through. We're gonna be in this for 881 00:52:14,960 --> 00:52:20,000 Speaker 1: a while. Gene, that was absolutely fantastic. I learned a 882 00:52:20,040 --> 00:52:21,719 Speaker 1: ton from that, and it was a real treat to 883 00:52:21,800 --> 00:52:23,840 Speaker 1: have you come on odd Lots, So thank you so 884 00:52:23,920 --> 00:52:26,120 Speaker 1: much for joining us. Well, thank you both Joe and 885 00:52:26,120 --> 00:52:29,160 Speaker 1: Tracy for the opportunity, Laura for running the program today. 886 00:52:29,800 --> 00:52:32,440 Speaker 1: Really appreciate the chance to get some of the information 887 00:52:32,440 --> 00:52:35,680 Speaker 1: out there. Absolutely, Thank you so much, Jane. Take care 888 00:52:35,680 --> 00:52:53,960 Speaker 1: all right, you too, Thank you, Thanks Jane. Uh So, 889 00:52:54,040 --> 00:52:55,400 Speaker 1: there you have it. We're gonna be in this for 890 00:52:55,400 --> 00:52:59,200 Speaker 1: a while. Huh. It's not very encouraging, is it. Yeah, 891 00:52:59,239 --> 00:53:01,759 Speaker 1: I guess I guess. Uh. Well, one encouraging thing was 892 00:53:01,960 --> 00:53:06,200 Speaker 1: Christmas is saved. Um, I guess that's good. If you 893 00:53:06,320 --> 00:53:10,920 Speaker 1: order early, just just just make me. I'm definitely a 894 00:53:10,960 --> 00:53:15,000 Speaker 1: late shopper two for gifts. So I really he was awesome. 895 00:53:15,160 --> 00:53:19,040 Speaker 1: That was great. I learned a ton from uh that episode, 896 00:53:19,080 --> 00:53:22,200 Speaker 1: and I thought that was a great education in the 897 00:53:22,280 --> 00:53:25,239 Speaker 1: importance and this sort of like the role that the 898 00:53:25,280 --> 00:53:27,719 Speaker 1: ports play. I mean, of course it's sort of intuitive 899 00:53:27,760 --> 00:53:31,080 Speaker 1: reports play a crucial role because everything has to go 900 00:53:31,160 --> 00:53:34,080 Speaker 1: through the ports, all imports, but uh, just sort of 901 00:53:34,120 --> 00:53:36,759 Speaker 1: like understanding the relationship that they have with the truckers 902 00:53:36,840 --> 00:53:40,560 Speaker 1: and the shipping companies and the warehouses cetera, the retailers. 903 00:53:40,760 --> 00:53:43,719 Speaker 1: I learned a lot from that conversation. Yeah. So two 904 00:53:43,760 --> 00:53:47,000 Speaker 1: things I guess um struck me. So. The first one 905 00:53:47,200 --> 00:53:49,680 Speaker 1: is we've spoken about this before, but this idea of 906 00:53:49,719 --> 00:53:54,960 Speaker 1: technology upgrades for shipping and the digitization process. UM. So 907 00:53:55,160 --> 00:53:58,240 Speaker 1: clearly this is a complex industry. You have so many 908 00:53:58,280 --> 00:54:02,520 Speaker 1: different factors going into supply chains. Can technology help you 909 00:54:02,640 --> 00:54:07,200 Speaker 1: organize them and achieve some efficiencies? Um, that would help 910 00:54:07,200 --> 00:54:09,920 Speaker 1: you move goods from A to B. That keeps coming up. 911 00:54:09,960 --> 00:54:12,359 Speaker 1: And then the other thing that struck me a sort 912 00:54:12,400 --> 00:54:17,239 Speaker 1: of related topic, but this idea of prioritizing strategic shipments 913 00:54:17,280 --> 00:54:19,759 Speaker 1: and being able to say, well, this ship has a 914 00:54:19,800 --> 00:54:23,000 Speaker 1: bunch of containers full of semiconductors, and they're important for 915 00:54:23,640 --> 00:54:26,920 Speaker 1: supply chains for a bunch of important industries, and so 916 00:54:26,960 --> 00:54:29,560 Speaker 1: we're going to get them out sooner. That's a really 917 00:54:29,600 --> 00:54:32,760 Speaker 1: interesting thing. And I wonder if that's a big shift 918 00:54:33,120 --> 00:54:36,279 Speaker 1: for ports and other shipping industries. I wonder if that's 919 00:54:36,320 --> 00:54:39,960 Speaker 1: something that's going to become more important going forward. Maybe 920 00:54:40,080 --> 00:54:44,080 Speaker 1: you don't need like the shipping container full of like 921 00:54:44,440 --> 00:54:48,320 Speaker 1: I don't know, maybe toys for Christmas, but like semiconductors 922 00:54:48,400 --> 00:54:52,640 Speaker 1: might be more important. Yeah. No, So many like interesting 923 00:54:52,680 --> 00:54:56,440 Speaker 1: things and thinking about like potential for productivity enhancements and 924 00:54:56,480 --> 00:54:59,960 Speaker 1: how long a truck driver might just be sitting there 925 00:55:00,000 --> 00:55:03,239 Speaker 1: are waiting to pick something up, even when there are 926 00:55:03,440 --> 00:55:06,319 Speaker 1: containers on the ground that are waiting to be moved. 927 00:55:06,560 --> 00:55:09,600 Speaker 1: You know, this sort of like the opportunity still to 928 00:55:09,719 --> 00:55:12,920 Speaker 1: just make these turnaround times faster. I don't know, just 929 00:55:13,160 --> 00:55:16,040 Speaker 1: lots of lots of interesting details. We should go out 930 00:55:16,080 --> 00:55:18,600 Speaker 1: to the ports sometimes. Yeah, I would totally go to 931 00:55:18,640 --> 00:55:21,040 Speaker 1: the ports. We still have a lot to do on 932 00:55:21,120 --> 00:55:23,480 Speaker 1: transport and supply chains, and one thing that I really 933 00:55:23,480 --> 00:55:31,520 Speaker 1: want to do is palletts, palets. Okay, yeah, okay, pallets, palettes, packaging, palets, 934 00:55:32,040 --> 00:55:34,759 Speaker 1: rail and barges are free that we still have to do. 935 00:55:34,920 --> 00:55:36,400 Speaker 1: We definitely have to do real we haven't done a 936 00:55:36,400 --> 00:55:40,839 Speaker 1: single real one. And plastics as well, like plastic packaging, 937 00:55:41,080 --> 00:55:45,440 Speaker 1: there's plenty to talk about. Yeah, okay, um, the series continues. 938 00:55:45,560 --> 00:55:48,440 Speaker 1: Shall we leave it there? Let's leave it there, all right. 939 00:55:48,640 --> 00:55:51,480 Speaker 1: This has been another episode of the All Thoughts Podcast. 940 00:55:51,520 --> 00:55:54,000 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy Alloway. You can follow me on Twitter at 941 00:55:54,040 --> 00:55:56,560 Speaker 1: Tracy Alloway and I'm Joe Why Isn't though? You can 942 00:55:56,600 --> 00:55:59,960 Speaker 1: follow me on Twitter at the Stalwart. Follow our producer 943 00:56:00,080 --> 00:56:03,800 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Laura Carlston. She's at Laura M. Carlson. Follow 944 00:56:03,840 --> 00:56:07,320 Speaker 1: the Bloomberg head of podcast, Francesca Levi at Prancesca Today, 945 00:56:07,680 --> 00:56:10,439 Speaker 1: and check out all of our podcasts at Bloomberg under 946 00:56:10,480 --> 00:56:13,120 Speaker 1: the handle at podcasts. Thanks for listening.