Lonely Cranes at the Los Angeles Port. Paul Page
Today I got this email from Peter Tirschwell, editor of the Journal of Commerce. Peter spends a lot of time at U.S. ports, but his latest visit to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach left him spooked. Spooked because it was quiet and calm. These ports handle 40 percent of all U.S. containers moving in international trade. Last February import volumes were down 43 percent from the same month last year. "43 percent!", Peter exclaims.
He writes:
The docks that make up port cargo terminals, where millions of steel containers full of freight are transferred, are normally a death-defying place to be. Even from the seeming safety of a vehicle, the pace of activity all around as yard-hustlers towing 40-foot boxes coming whipping around tall stacks of the containers and eight-story-tall cranes hoist the imposing-looking boxes directly over your head.
This time, the usual dull roar of lifting machinery moving many tons of steel and freight was nowhere to be heard - the work at the few ships on hand was barely audible. Dockworkers were scarce and there were few of the trucks that make an adventure out of driving anywhere from docks to the highway around the ports. Docks that were crammed with containers just a year ago had enough space to host a football game.
There were ships in the water and at dockside, but they were smaller and in eye-popping contrast to more robust times- virtually empty of containers. They sat with relative ease in the water, hardly burdened at all by goods on this leg of their voyage.
categories: Economic Scene
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