The boards of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach late yesterday approved a multi-billion dollar plan to dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions on cargo moving through the nation's busiest port complex, steps that include shipping half the goods out of the facility via on-dock rail systems to reduce reliance on trucks.
The plan, which was disclosed in July and modified following industry comments, is the first major clean air compliance upgrade at the complex since 2006. It calls for zero emissions on all landside goods movement by 2035. To reach that goal, the ports said they will establish "clean engine milestones" for new trucks entering the drayage registries and create incentives to encourage investment in near-zero- and zero-emission trucks. In addition, they plan to develop a universal truck-reservation system, staging yards, and intelligent transportation systems, among other measures, to reduce emissions while improving cargo flow.
Beginning in 2020, terminal operators would be required to deploy zero-emission equipment, or to deploy the cleanest equipment available at the time, the ports said. The goal would be to transition all terminal equipment to zero emissions by 2030, according to the plan. Effective in 2019, the ports will work with marine terminal operators to ensure that equipment bought after 2020 is the cleanest feasible equipment, according to Port of Los Angeles spokesman Phillip Sanfield.
In addition, the ports assured terminal operators that zero-emission or near-zero-emission equipment purchased under the plan could be utilized for a full life span. This promise was designed to allay industry concerns that equipment already in use to comply with clean air directives would be rendered obsolete by the 2030 deadline, resulting in wasted or impaired assets.
The ports set a 2020 start date for requiring near-zero-emission trucks, with a new "truck rate" charged to beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) for trucks entering terminals. Exemptions to the charge would be granted to trucks certified as complying with zero- or near-zero-emission requirements. Industry responses to the port's original proposal centered in part on the preference to shoot for compliance with near-zero-emission standards rather than a zero-emission objective. The state is expected to establish standards for near-zero-emission trucks by 2019.
There is no specific time frame for meeting the on-dock rail objective, according to Sanfield. In a recent interview, Jon Slangerup, former executive director of the Port of Long Beach, estimated that one-third of box traffic leaves the complex via on-dock rail. The balance is still trucked to urban, near-dock truck-to-rail transloading facilities, he said. In a statement late today, Slangerup hailed the move, saying it will "yield extraordinary air-quality and road-congestion improvements" at the complex.
The ports said the plan would cost between $7 billion and $14 billion to implement. In late September, about 70 groups, including the shipper group National Industrial Transportation League (NITL), whose members are big users of the ports, raised concerns about the initiative's cost-effectiveness. The groups said the plan could increase supply chain costs by billions of dollars and make the ports less attractive to shippers and cargo owners.
The groups also said the ports did not fully address the commercial availability of specific technologies, were unclear about the project's total cost, lacked any assessment about the impact on the ports' future competitiveness, and didn't conduct a cost-benefit analysis of whether the improvements in air quality would be significant enough to justify the investment.
The plan calls for the ports to reduce greenhouse gas levels to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. The ports said they aim to cut emissions of diesel particulate matter 77 percent by 2023
The two ports handle approximately 40 percent of the nation's total containerized import traffic and 25 percent of its total exports. Trade that flows through the San Pedro Bay ports complex generates more than 3 million jobs nationwide.
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
The U.S. manufacturing sector has become an engine of new job creation over the past four years, thanks to a combination of federal incentives and mega-trends like nearshoring and the clean energy boom, according to the industrial real estate firm Savills.
While those manufacturing announcements have softened slightly from their 2022 high point, they remain historically elevated. And the sector’s growth outlook remains strong, regardless of the results of the November U.S. presidential election, the company said in its September “Savills Manufacturing Report.”
From 2021 to 2024, over 995,000 new U.S. manufacturing jobs were announced, with two thirds in advanced sectors like electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries, semiconductors, clean energy, and biomanufacturing. After peaking at 350,000 news jobs in 2022, the growth pace has slowed, with 2024 expected to see just over half that number.
But the ingredients are in place to sustain the hot temperature of American manufacturing expansion in 2025 and beyond, the company said. According to Savills, that’s because the U.S. manufacturing revival is fueled by $910 billion in federal incentives—including the Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPS and Science Act, and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—much of which has not yet been spent. Domestic production is also expected to be boosted by new tariffs, including a planned rise in semiconductor tariffs to 50% in 2025 and an increase in tariffs on Chinese EVs from 25% to 100%.
Certain geographical regions will see greater manufacturing growth than others, since just eight states account for 47% of new manufacturing jobs and over 6.3 billion square feet of industrial space, with 197 million more square feet under development. They are: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Tennessee.
Across the border, Mexico’s manufacturing sector has also seen “revolutionary” growth driven by nearshoring strategies targeting U.S. markets and offering lower-cost labor, with a workforce that is now even cheaper than in China. Over the past four years, that country has launched 27 new plants, each creating over 500 jobs. Unlike the U.S. focus on tech manufacturing, Mexico focuses on traditional sectors such as automative parts, appliances, and consumer goods.
Looking at the future, the U.S. manufacturing sector’s growth outlook remains strong, regardless of the results of November’s presidential election, Savills said. That’s because both candidates favor protectionist trade policies, and since significant change to federal incentives would require a single party to control both the legislative and executive branches. Rather than relying on changes in political leadership, future growth of U.S. manufacturing now hinges on finding affordable, reliable power amid increasing competition between manufacturing sites and data centers, Savills said.
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.