The Port of Los Angeles will see a flurry of activity on several fronts in the coming year, including environmental initiatives and multiple development projects.
That’s according to POLA Executive Director Gene Seroka, who presented his ninth consecutive State of the Port addess in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 550 industry leaders on Wednesday, Jan. 10. Seroka’s Port of Long Beach counterpart, CEO Mario Cordero, will give his annual State of the Port address on Wednesday, Jan. 17, at the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center.
Seroka, who was introduced by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, laid out plans for infrastructure improvements, community attractions on both the Wilmington and San Pedro waterfronts, and an expectation of cargo numbers rebounding through 2024.
“The good news is that global trade is now edging up and we are looking forward to a return to more normal cargo volume levels in the year ahead,” Seroka said in his luncheon speech, sponsored by the Pacific Maritime Shipping Association.
The port expects cargo volumes for the past year to total more than 8.6 million container units, Seroka said. That’s 13% below the total in 2022. But, he said, the last five months of the year were especially strong and there was also an uptick in market share.
Environmental initiatives will loom large this year, Seroka said, as the port scrambles to meet deadlines in 2030 and 2035 for zero-emissions fleets for terminal equipment and drayage trucks, respectively.
“Since I spoke to you last January, the number of ZE trucks in our drayage registry grew from 56 to 195,” Seroka said at the World Cruise Center in San Pedro. “That’s progress but still a very small percentage of the 20,000 trucks that serve our ports.”
The ports of LA and Long Beach plan to boost those numbers using incentives under the Clean Truck Fund Rate program, which has collected more than $115 million to date to help facilitate a turnover to cleaner trucks…
Read the full article here
