Study: PierPass shifts 68K weekly truck trips to nighttime gates

PierPass Inc.'s OffPeak after-hours marine terminal gate program at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles has diverted more than 9 million truck trips from peak daytime traffic since the program's start in July 2005, according to a study commissioned by the Long Beach-based entity.

Conducted by Kenmore, Wash.-based BST Associates, the study found that the OffPeak program, which offers financial incentives to shift container pickups and drop-offs to nighttime hours, is shifting 68,000 truck trips a week from the freeways during busy commuting hours.

Program officials claim that the shifting reduces gridlock on area freeways and curtails air pollution from idling truck traffic.

Another key finding of the study was that the OffPeak program was creating consistent nighttime operating hours for the 14 marine terminals at the Southern California ports. While 12 of 14 Southern California terminals had some type of off-peak gate hours before the PierPass program, the hours and days of operation varied widely. This standardization brought to the terminal hours by the PierPass program has ed to a more than doubling of off-peak traffic, according to the study.

The program charges cargo owners $50 per TEU ($100 for containers longer than 20 feet) for daytime gate usage, which then is used to support five after-hours gate shifts at night and on weekends. Marine terminal operators in the two ports collectively developed the PierPASS system in response to threatened state legislation to reduce cargo-handling highway congestion. The legislation was dropped following the start of the PierPass program.

Prior to the program, 17 percent to 21 percent of total Los Angeles-Long Beach container traffic was moved during nighttime or off-peak gate hours. The program, according to the study, now handles 45 percent of the two ports annual TEUs, or more than 7 million TEUs based on the two ports?2007 calendar year volumes.

Based on PierPass numbers, the program is now handling roughly 3 million more TEUs per year at the two ports than at the program's July 2005 inception.

Despite the success of the program, daytime moves at the two ports still increased by roughly 1,500 TEUs per day since the program began, according to numbers from the two ports and PierPass.