b'APRIL 5 - 18, 2021NORTH AMERICAS TRANSPORTATION & LOGIS TICS NEWSPAPER 5Handling the cargo surge at NY/NJ: Doing better than most NORTHEAST PORTS 2021NY/NJ Port community tackled issues as they aroseBy Peter Buxbaum, AJOTItsastorythatsbeinging empty containers at points replayedinsupplychainsof origin and its become harder and at ports across the globe,getting space on ships. Ships including the port of New Yorkareleavingtheiroriginsat andNewJersey. Afterafew100% load factors, so they are months of dramatic declines indischarging larger volumes of cargo, during the early monthscargo at the port, said Rooney. of the COVID-19 pandemic, aTheincreaseinlargership resurgence beyond all expecta- activity at the port during 2020 tions took place. wassignificant.Lastyear, Afterseeingmonthly28% of vessels handled at the declines of over 16%, the portport were over 13,000 TEUs, of New York and New Jerseyup 4% over 2019.setaFebruarycargorecordMeanwhile,warehouses thisyear,withincreasesare still operating under COVID of6.8%overthepreviousmanningprocedures.Crews recordfromFebruary2019.aresmaller,soloadingand This follows on the heels ofunloadingtakethatmuch evenmoredramaticgainslonger. Its taking longer for of16%inJanuary,21%in(SURGEcontinued on December,23%inNovem- page 6)ber, and 13% in October, all comparedtopre-COVID months in 2019.GCT BayonneMarch 2021 figures, which haventbeenmadepublic, remainverystrong,said Beth Rooney, the deputy port director, in an exclusive inter-view with the AJOT, and we havent taken our foot off the pedal yet. The port usuallyGCT New Yorklooksforyearlygrowthof between 3% and 3.5%, levels notlikelytobeseenagain until 2022.Theselevelsofcargo growtharesodramaticthat they represent five years of growthinjustsixmonths, said Rooney. In other words, the port is currently handling volumes that had been previ-ously projected for 2026.Allofwhichhascre-atedproblemsfortheport anditsstakeholders.Ithas stressedthesupplychainat everynode,saidRooney. Wedidnthavefiveyears to make infrastructure invest-ments,equipmentadjust-ments, or procedures to bring on additional personnel.Innovating for tomorrow.No matter which of our two U.S. terminals you choose to call at, you can rely on our cutting-edge terminal technology and industry-leading service to work for you. With one of the most advanced terminals in North America, the highest productivity in the Port of New York and New Jersey and seamless on-dock rail, GCT has the capacity to Beth Rooney, deputy port director,connect BCOs and shippers to their cargo reliably and efciently. This PANYNJ is synchronized logistics.m aximuml oadF actoRSAs a result, Everything is tight, said Rooney. Capacity is tight, dwell time across the gateway has doubled, contain- globalterminals.comers are remaining on the termi- @globalterminalsnallonger,andtheyresitting on chassis on the street longer.Oceancarriersandship-pers are having difficulty find-'