Features

Turning on the Funding Tap By Lori Musser The need has been established for a new port facility. The site is available, architectural and engineering plans are in the works, permitting and regulations are being addressed. And a dearth of dollars might squash the entire project before a shovel hits the ground. Or, a thoughtfully assembled package of public and/or ...

Port to Market: Building Infrastructure to Meet Demand By Jim Romeo Before the Port of San Diego drafts its master plan, it will have spent three years analyzing and investigating data from multiple sources. This includes public outreach, over 100 interviews with stakeholders and agencies and numerous public workshops and board meetings that culminated at the end of 2015. Its ...

Seaports Maintenance and Modernization By Kathy A. Smith The role that maintenance and upgrades play at ports is naturally critical to keeping assets running well and cargo moving as efficiently as possible. Ports are challenged to prioritize their limited resources between major capital investments required for bigger ships, versus the cyclical major upgrades of wharves and other facilities. And although ...

Metrics and key indicators can help a port improve its performance, if used in a meaningful way By Kathy A. Smith The job of determining what data and key performance indicators ports need to track and monitor is an ever-evolving one. One size does not fit all as performance measures are assessed based on a variety of factors – operations, ...

Ports use environmental data as an outreach tool with community groups, stakeholders By Meredith Martino Port projects and port operations are the subject of a variety of environmental regulations – caps on air emissions from mobile sources, requirements for habitat mitigation, mandates for sediment monitoring and limits on water pollutants. To demonstrate compliance with these regulations, ports and their industry ...

If a port could cherry pick the best metrics from its partners, would it? By Lori Musser Ports have always produced metrics related to port capacity, utilization and productivity. Tremendous competitive advantage can be derived from such data when used to polish up the marketing mix, plan for throughput and facility development, and report progress on mandates. Metrics also can ...

Port directors throughout the region talk about how they use metrics for performance improvement and strategic planning. By Sarah Sain When it comes to data, access to real-time statistics and metrics are important – no matter where in the world a port is located. The information allows port directors to monitor performance, improve output and discover trends. However, how that ...

Kurt Nagle talks about how AAPA is helping ports tell their stories in the media and to Congress By Meredith Martino P.T. Barnum famously said “all publicity is good publicity,” but anyone answering questions before a Congressional oversight panel might wonder if Mr. Barnum had it right. When 2015 began, port congestion and the protracted labor/management negotiations on the West ...

Technology trends in automation are changing how work is done at ports and terminals By Kathy A. Smith As automation begins to play a larger role at port terminals in order for seaborne trade to move faster, the impact will undoubtedly be felt by the labor workforce as jobs become less labor-intensive and more computer-based. Yet this paradigm shift won’t ...

New survey by Martin Associates and study by AAPA look at the economic value of ports and critical need for infrastructure investment in the future By AAPA Staff This April at the AAPA 2015 Spring Conference, Martin Associates released the results of its latest economic impact study of United States seaports. Dr. John Martin, Martin Associates’ president, debuted his firm’s ...