Strategic Initiatives for Inland Movement of Containerized Imports at San Pedro Bay

Strategic Initiatives for Inland Movement of Containerized Imports at San Pedro Bay

Leachman: Strategic Initiatives for Inland Movement of Containerized Imports at San Pedro Bay

October 18, 2019
VIDEO available, click above

Rob LeachmanUC Berkeley's Rob Leachman presented Strategic Initiatives for Inland Movement of Containerized Imports at San Pedro Bay at 4 p.m. Oct. 18 at the ITS Transportation Seminar in 290 Hearst Memorial Mining Building.

Abstract

The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach (the “SPB Ports”) handle more containers of imported cargo than any other port complex in the United States. In 2015 over three-quarters of the contents of those containers were destined to points far beyond the LA Basin and the Ports’ economic hinterland, yet these shipments resulted in significant intra-regional truck and rail shipments with significant negative environmental impacts. Mitigating those impacts is the focus of this talk.

In the recent past a significant trend has emerged, and is accelerating, that will increase the amount of highway-borne movement of imports within the Basin. Fewer international containers are being shipped “intact” to US inland points by rail while an increasing percentage are drayed to points within the Basin for de-vanning, sorting or inventorying, and finally re-loading the imported goods into domestic containers or trailers. This research explores the forces driving the trend away from the intact shipment of international containers by rail (known as inland point intermodal or “IPI” service), identifies public-private initiatives that should be taken to mitigate its effects, and quantifies the associated air quality and congestion benefits for the LA Basin.

Presenter
Rob Leachman is a Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Leachman is the author of more than 90 technical publications concerning operations management and productivity improvement. He has supervised more than 30 PhD dissertations in the area. He also is President and CEO of Leachman and Associates LLC, a firm providing consulting and software for supply chain and operations management to corporations and governments world-wide. He received the AB degree in Mathematics and Physics, the MS degree in Operations Research and the PhD degree in Operations Research, all from U. C. Berkeley, and has been a member of the U C Berkeley faculty since 1979. Dr. Leachman is a one-time winner and a two-time finalist in the Franz Edelman Award Competition sponsored by the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), recognizing his work to design and implement automated production planning systems and his work for automated floor scheduling and cycle time reduction in the semiconductor industry. The Edelman Award is the highest accolade from INFORMS, given annually recognizing outstanding practice of the management sciences.