PierPASS OffPeak program diverts 9 million truck trips

OffPeak shifts handle an average of 68,000 truck trips in a typical week, or about 40 percent of all container moves at the L.A. ports on days with both peak and OffPeak shifts.

The Trucker News Services

7/23/2008

LONG BEACH, Calif. — PierPASS Inc. reported Wednesday that its OffPeak program has diverted more than nine million truck trips from peak daytime traffic since the program’s start exactly three years ago.

The program, which created nighttime and Saturday shifts at the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach, has eliminated costly bottlenecks in the ports, reduced gridlock on area freeways and curtailed air pollution from idling traffic, PierPASS said. The nine millionth truck trip occurred during the week of June 23.

PierPASS also said an independent evaluation of the OffPeak program concluded that the program is meeting its objectives of shifting truck traffic out of peak daytime traffic and recommended that the program continue to operate.

OffPeak shifts handle an average of 68,000 truck trips in a typical week, or about 40 percent of all container moves at the two ports on days with both peak and OffPeak shifts.

Under the OffPeak program, all international container terminals in the two ports have established five new shifts per week (Monday through Thursday from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.). As an incentive to use the new OffPeak shifts and to cover the added cost of the shifts, a Traffic Mitigation Fee is required for most cargo movement during peak hours (Monday through Friday, 3 a.m. to 6 p.m.).

PierPASS Inc. is  a not-for-profit company created by marine terminal operators at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to address multi-terminal issues such as congestion, security and air quality.