APL Takes Top Spot in Ag Carrier Survey

PL took the top spot in the 4th annual Agricultural Transportation Coalition (AgTC) Ocean Carrier Performance Survey, the results of which were announced last month at AgTC’s 23rd Annual Conference in San Francisco.

By Patrick Burnson
Published: July, 2010 

PL took the top spot in the 4th annual Agricultural Transportation Coalition (AgTC) Ocean Carrier Performance Survey, the results of which were announced last month at AgTC’s  23rd Annual Conference in San Francisco.
 
AgTC initiated the Annual Survey, which rates agriculture shippers and forwarders nationally, in 2007 in order to address significant shortcomings on the part of some carriers in the area of documentation—specifically, timely and accurate bills of lading. In recent years, the proliferation of government data collection requirements and commercial and financial demands—as well as shifting volumes from imports to exports—has severely challenged both carriers and shippers. 
 
“The objective of the AgTC Ocean Carrier Performance Survey is to recognize those carriers that consistently perform well, and to encourage the others to focus their company, personnel and resources on doing better,” said association spokesmen.
 
Each year, AgTC has extended an invitation to each carrier to work with the organization and its members to address documentation and other performance practices, in order to make improvements and enhance the shipper-carrier relationship.
 
According to spokesmen, a demonstration of the positive potential of the survey has been the effort of Maersk to address documentation issues. “Maersk met with ag shippers at the AgTC mid-year conference, established a documentation initiative with dedicated personnel, and heard, directly from the AgTC members, the specific documentation metrics required for the shipper to perform under their contracts to their foreign customers,” said spokesmen.
 
The confidential survey asks each shipper to “assign a number that reflects your overall experience with the booking, equipment and space allocation, documentation and customer service practices of the carriers with whom you ship: 1. Among the best; 2. In the upper half; 3. In the bottom half; 4. Among the worst.”
 
To calculate a score for each carrier, all the submissions are aggregated and averaged. The submissions of each participating shipper are completely confidential, and after the scores are calculated, all individual submissions are discarded. The complete survey results can be found on the AgTC’s website at www.agrans.org
 

MARAD Director Addresses ‘Marine Highway’ Concerns

Now that the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration (MARAD) has established a final rule on its “Marine Highway” strategy, shippers are keen to understand how the tactical implementation will begin. More to the point, however, is the question of how it will enhance trade and improve the movement of domestic goods.

John Hummer, director of MARAD’s Northern California Gateway Office, was charged with facing those queries and others at last month’s “Ports and Terminals” luncheon staged by the Pacific Transportation Association. Held at Scott’s, near the Port of Oakland, the event attracted its share of skeptics who took issue with some of Hummer’s rosier projections.

“How does MARAD quantify the return on investment?” asked one shipper, who said that not enough “hard numbers” had been produced before the plan was pushed through.

Hummer admitted that MARAD’s five-year plan to ease congestion by using barges and tugs as alternatives to trucks was going to deliver a “net value” yet to be measured. “But it’s our best shot at the moment,” he added. “And worth a try.”

According to the “National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America’s Transportation Network,” congestion is costing the United States an estimated $200 billion a year. And this figure is rising. Nearly 98 percent of all domestic freight—including freight that enters through ports—moves on the nation’s Interstates and railroads. A Federal Highway Administration study, “Estimated Cost of Freight Involved in Highway Bottlenecks,” indicates that, on average, there are currently 10,500 trucks per day per mile on the Interstate Highway System. But by 2035, that volume is expected to double to 22,700 trucks, with the most heavily used portions of the system seeing upwards of 50,000 trucks per day.

“By linking the Northern California ports of Sacramento, Stockton, and Oakland, a great deal of that surface mode pressure can be relieved,” said Hummer. “Short-sea shipping is hardly a new concept, and now that the Obama Administration has given us the funding, it’s worth a try.”

Other concerns raised about the plan were brought up by members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). One dockside worker was assured by Hummer that all container hand-offs would remain with the ILWU—which controls all three ports. The implications of a wildcat strike or sudden work slowdown were not addressed, however.