b'8American Journal of Transportation ajot.comPort of Boston: 2020The best bad year ever 40.00 Conley Terminal Adjusted Gross Productivity for All VesselsThe Port of Boston TEU throughput dropped 9% to 283,061 TEUs in FY 2020so why was that a good year?35.00 32.76 34.72 34.21 34.52 33.87 33.37 33.10 33.04 34.42 32.47Containers Moved Per Hour33.94 34.01 31.64 32.33By George Lauriat, AJOT 30.00 32.61 33.08 33.18 32.89 31.79 32.14 31.38 30.96 32.29 31.56When is a bad year good?east United States, withhighthenext(andthenext)gen-Thats the question buried indensitymetropolitanareaserationofcontainershipsif25.00 Average adjusted gross productivity for the period Mar20-Feb21 is 33the 2020 numbers for Mass- andaboveaveragehouse- thePortwastoremainrel-portsPaulW.ConleyTer- holdincomes[forexample,evant. For Boston, a terminal20.00 Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Febminal,thePortofBostonsBostonshouseholdincomeof dreams (with apologies toMar19-Feb20 Mar20-Feb21container facility. In 2020 theis$71,834and$79,835forbaseballsFieldofDreams)Productivityis determined by averaging the number of containers lifted per hour per crane during the time vessel operations are port handled FY (July-June)Massachusetts]aretailor- would be able to handle con- underway. Vessel operation time is determined by the time the vessel is at berth minus delays.283,061 TEUs [CY 268,418madefore-commerce.Andtainerships in excess of 13,000Conley Terminal Gate Visits/Truck Turnaround TimesTEUs] down from the recordthepandemicsshifttoTEUswithadequatemain13000settingFY2019totalsofremoteworkcontributedtochannel depths, depths along- 0:35307,331TEUs,whichhadan already altered consumersidetheterminalandgantry12000 11279 11295 11501 11582 10859 11019 11236 0:33Gate Visits Truck Turnaround Times MPA Benchark:45 Minutesmarked the fifth consecutivebuying behavior in the region cranes that could handle more11000 9934 10427 0:32 10389 0:32year that the Port set a record.than20across.However,10000 9548 0:31ItlookedlikethePortwasB uildi t[ andd Redgei t ]since the need was imminent,9000 0:30 0:30 0:30headedfora350,000TEUandt heyW illc ome ataveryminimumthePort8000 0:29 0:29 0:29 0:29 7818 0:29record,settingupthepos- Nearlyadecadeagoneededtobeabletohandle7000 0:28 0:28 0:28 0:27sibilityofeclipsing400,000itbecameobviousthattheships over 10,000 TEUs. 6000 0:27TEUsaonceunthinkableBigshiperawascomingMassportandtheState5000 0:26numberintheverynearand coming fast. Conley Ter- understoodtheseriousness4000 0:25future.So,whydidnttheminalandthenavigationalofthesituationandputtheMar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20 Jan-21 Feb-21Gate Visitsupward trajectory continue?approaches would all need a(BESTcontinued onTruck TurnaroundWhathappenedtothesignificant upgrade to handlepage 13) Series3Port,waswhathappenedtoSeries4us allthe COVID-19 pan-demic. However, the regional economicsofeachareaareSERVING THE INTERESTS OF slightlydifferentandthe impactsaredifferentinthe GreaterBostonareathanTHE PORT OF BOSTONsay the vast Long Beach-Los Angeles metro area. TheBostonarea,andAND ENSURING SMOOTH AND indeedvirtuallytheentire freight catchment area for the PortofBoston,isweightedTIMELY CARGO DELIVERYheavilyinservices,espe-ciallythehospitalitysector. Thelockdownsthroughout theNewEnglandregion contributedtoadecline indemandatanumberof levels.Forexample,there areoverfiftyinstitutesof higher learning in the Greater Boston area (Route 128 belt) andeachyearover150,000 studentsareaddedtothe Cityspopulationofnearly 700,000.Ifthesemi-circle iswidenedoutafewmoremiles, it is estimated that stu-dent population tops 250,000. Withthelockdown,there werefewerstudentsstay-ing in the Boston area which along with closures of restau-rants and hotels and the near eclipse of tourism dampened demandforhighvaluecon-sumer goods within the arc. Similarly,exportstoglobal marketswerealsoimpacted as each area went through the cycle of openings, lockdowns and re-openings according to the effectiveness of pandemic mitigations. Massportitselfwashit in a number of ways as rev-enue from Logan International Airportplummetedasflights dropped.Additionally,theTHE BOSTON SHIPPING ASSOCIATION, INC2020 cruise season evaporated like sea smoke with the cur- The Boston Shipping Association, Inc. (BSA) fosters positive labor-management relations between its employer mem-tailing of cruise ship calls, andbers and the waterfront labor they employ; and, the BSA is committed to promoting maximization of the use of the Port theportwassubjecttofirstof Boston by ocean shipping and shippers of both export and import cargoes by helping to ensure quick vessel dispatch half bypasses as demand fell. concomitant with cost improvement to attract new business to Boston and retain existing customers.However,asecondary trendalsowedgeditsway intomainstreameconom-ics during the COVID crisis: E-commerce.NewEngland,WWW.BOSTONSHIPPINGASSOC.COM andreallytheentireNorth-'