SSA Terminals will soon launch an "innovative approach" to "track and analyze the potential of providing extended weekend hours for shippers," Federal Maritime Commissioner Carl Bentzel said June 1. The program, which will be rolled out at SSA's terminals in Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma next month, will allow shippers to schedule a time during the week to pick up cargo on a Saturday or Sunday.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union said it has reached a "tentative agreement" with the Pacific Maritime Association on "certain key issues," but talks are still ongoing. ILWU Local 13, which represents dockworkers at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, said in an April 20 press release that talks "are continuing on an ongoing basis until an agreement is reached" on a new labor contract (see 2303270032).

Operations have resumed at both the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach after workers returned for their evening shift on Friday night, Bloomberg reported on April 7, ending a worker shortage that began the previous day (see 2304070060). The Pacific Maritime Association, which represents West Coast ports, had claimed that the shortage was due to deliberate action by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union amid contract negotiations (see 2304070060).

A dockworker shortage at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach stretched into a second day April 7, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times, in what the Pacific Maritime Association called a “concerted action to withhold labor” by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union amid contract negotiations. The ILWU local said its workers remain on the job.

The Biden administration should "quickly" help the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association reach a new labor agreement to "ensure there is no disruption" to the operations of U.S. ports on the West Coast, more than 200 trade groups wrote in a March 24 letter to the White House. Because Marty Walsh left as secretary of the Department of Labor in February, it's crucial that a "new administration point person" be designated to help negotiations continue, the groups said.

There have been no known security breaches from Chinese-made cranes at U.S. ports, the American Association of Port Authorities said in a news release March 8. The statement came in response to a Wall Street Journal report that some U.S. officials were concerned that Chinese-made cranes, specifically cranes from Chinese company ZPMC, could be a spying tool for the Chinese government and a way for the Chinese government to disrupt the flow of goods. ZPMC now makes 80% of ship-to-shore cranes at U.S. ports, a U.S. official said, according to the report.

Truck inspections by Texas state authorities that resumed Dec. 13 are “once again causing severe backups and congestion and are harming supply chains during a season when shippers are striving to meet consumer demand and tight deadlines,” the Border Trade Alliance said in a letter to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports will end a program that could have eventually imposed surcharges on dwelling containers, the ports announced Dec. 16. The fee program was meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers (see 2110280031), but the ports never implemented it and instead postponed it weekly (see 2207220051) and later monthly (see 2211180061) since it was first announced in October 2021 (see 2207290053).

The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports again postponed by one month a new surcharge meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers (see 2110280031), the two ports announced Nov. 18. The ports had planned to begin imposing the fee a year ago, in November 2021, but postponed it each week until July 29, when the ports announced their first one-month postponement (see 2207290053). The latest one-month extension delays the effective date until Dec. 16.

The Transportation Department's Maritime Administration on Oct. 28 announced the awarding of $703 million in grants from the Port Infrastructure Development Program, for 41 projects for coastal seaports, Great Lakes ports and inland river ports. The American Association of Port Authorities said the bipartisan infrastructure package allowed more spending than ever happened in past years.