Extended VanPort gate hours begin today; off-dock included
VANCOUVER — To maximize use of off-peak hours, the Vancouver Port Authority (VPA) and terminal operators are extending hours of operations at container terminals and off-dock facilities in the Port of Vancouver by an additional 20 percent.
The VPA says the West Coast port’s three container terminals and five key independent off-dock facilities will add a Tuesday evening gate in a pilot program beginning today, July 4, 2006. In addition, port terminals currently operate extended gates at least one other evening each week.
The announcement represents a 40 to 60 percent increase in gate hours for 2006, according to the VPA.
“Extending gate hours increases capacity, helps to alleviate congestion at the terminals and speeds up transaction times,” said Captain Chris Badger, the VPA’s vice-president of customer development and operations. “Extended hours of operations also make more efficient use of the region’s road networks by spreading truck traffic over a longer period, reducing congestion during traditional peak times and reducing emissions,”
The five off-dock facilities participating in the Extended Gates Program include Bridge Terminal Transport (BTT), Coast 2000 Terminals, Canadian Intermodal Services (CIS), Delta Container (Delco) and Marco Marine Container.
The Port of Vancouver is Canada’s largest port, trading more than $43 billion in goods with more than 90 trading economies annually.
The port is recovering from a series of labour disruptions over the last few years. Ripple effects from the latest — a six-week owner-op strike last summer — are just now subsiding.
As Today’s Trucking as reported in a number of exclusive stories, the VPA has been given the authority by the federal government to continue enforcing the “Ready” port licensing system (named after government mediator Vince Ready) for drayage companies, which includes mandated rates and charges to be passed on to contracted truckers.
While more than couple fleets protested the move, the Canadian Auto Workers union has in the meantime certified most of the 1,200 independent truckers that shut down their trucks last year, and as CAW national representative Stu Shields says, “once you bargain a collective agreement, the Ready recommendations are history … we will not accept anything less than the Ready (provisions).”
For more on this, follow the “Related Stories” links below.
Have your say
This is a moderated forum. Comments will no longer be published unless they are accompanied by a first and last name and a verifiable email address. (Today's Trucking will not publish or share the email address.) Profane language and content deemed to be libelous, racist, or threatening in nature will not be published under any circumstances.