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The Ports of LA/LB

By Rebecca Amber Moyers

If you all take a moment to look around you, check out the labels on your backpacks, on your clothes, on your laptops you’ll notice that the majority of these items are not made in the United States, but rather in China, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan and many other countries. The United States is no longer a manufacturing country, but instead, we are a country that provides services and develops technology. Most of us live in the Long Beach area, but all of us are impacted by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. I’m always surprised when I find out how little people know about the impact the ports have on our every day lives, and that is why I decided to talk with you about it today.

Every time I visit the Marine Exchange, which controls the traffic in and out of the ports, I learn something new. The last time I was there, I was surprised to learn that that in 1897, the U.S. Senate was torn between locating the port in either Santa Monica or San Pedro. There were two men, Phineus Banning (who owned a railroad company in Wilmington, CA), and Collis Huntington (who owned the Southern Pacific Railroad running into Santa Monica), and they both argued to the Senate to have the port located in opposite cities for their own financial gain.  And in 1899, by a narrow margin of only two votes, the Senate decided to have the Los Angeles Port built in San Pedro. And in the following year the construction of the breakwater began. I’ve seen aerial pictures of the port, and it’s interesting to think about what our city would look like if the port were, instead, located in Santa Monica.

Now although the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach are separate entities and compete for business, to the United States Coast Guard, the Marine Exchange, port security and many other government agencies they are considered as one. It’s like an imaginary line runs between the two ports. The Port Los Angeles is the largest container port in the United States and the Port Long Beach is second. Combined they are the 5th largest container port in the world. They handle 65% of all container goods coming into the USA from Pacific Rim ports; and 42% of all container goods coming into the United States.

You may or may not remember the summer (and fall) of 2004 where you could see the container ships anchored down the coast. Captain Manny Aschemeyer, the executive director for the Marine Exchange, called this “the perfect storm”. It all started the week after Father’s Day -- the longshoremen got back from a long weekend off, there weren’t enough truckers or rail cars, the technology and reliability of some devices on the docks were insufficient, and the ships just started backing up. At the peak of this calamity, there were over 100 ships back logged and approximately 50 ships at anchor with nowhere else to go.  Contrary to popular belief, they couldn’t be sent to many other nearby ports (like San Diego or Port Hueneme) because they frankly can’t handle that type of volume.  However, there were at least 120 ships that were diverted to other ports like Vancouver, Seattle, Tacoma, and Oakland; and some ships that could fit in the Panama Canal went to the ports on the east coast.

Many port officials received complaints from companies all over the United States. One being from a department store in Chicago which had spent millions on advertising for a sale they were having one weekend and none of their merchandise had arrived. They were handing out rain checks, racks were emptying and they were dealing with angry customers. Also during this time, the World Series in San Francisco had featured a free camera giveaway to all their fans, but they were still on the ships and never arrived.

We are very spoiled. We are used to the shelves being stocked, getting everything we want, when we want it, and we don’t realize that most countries are not this way. Even developed countries like England rarely have their shelves fully stocked. We run on a system called “Just in Time Delivery”, and we really depend on it. During the congestion period of 2004, many shelves throughout the country were starting to empty and we’re not used to seeing that. It almost scares us when we see an empty spot.

If you go to Wal-Mart, Target, Macy’s and other major stores, look at the labels and you’ll see they are not made in the United States. We import the majority of goods we use everyday. Captain Aschemeyer says, “The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are important not only for the local and regional economies but also have a vital impact on the entire national economy as a major gateway of cargo and consumer goods for the American public.” The ports are part of a pipeline, and if it is blocked even a little bit, there is a ripple effect throughout the entire nation. 

Many local residents complain that the port is ugly, noisy or that it causes pollution and jams up our freeways. …. But, some residents want to see the ports shut down, and this would only cripple our economy. If it were a smaller port …. the effects wouldn’t be as dramatic; but the shut down of either of these two mega-ports would be devastating to our economy. These ports produce a “river of commerce” that brings in 1 billion dollars a day of consumer goods, totaling over 365 billion dollars a year. And people want to shut these down? They generate 2.8 million jobs throughout the United States and 1 out of every 4 jobs in this region are port related. Shutting down these two ports would …. create a gaping wound throughout our nation and economy. To put it bluntly, “it” would hit the fan.

California does have some of the most stringent environmental regulations and our ports are constantly under pressure to reduce the pollution it produces. They are taking extraordinary steps to reduce pollution …. every year. They’re replacing engines in trucks and tug boats with ones that are more energy efficient and less polluting. And, they are undergoing new projects for employing hybrid vehicles throughout the ports. Even mayor Villariagosa, a supporter of environmental programs, recognizes the need to keep the ports functional in order to sustain the American economy.

I hope at the very least, the next time you are at Wal-Mart you’ll look under the product you pick and see where it came from, and that you’re able to “connect the dots” from the ships at our ports to the product in your hands.

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