When
I shipped out in 1969 as
a deckhand aboard the U.S.S.
American Lark, a brand new ship more than 2 football fields in length,
it became apparent that my training in cargo rigs would not be needed.
That’s because my freighter was a container ship, designed for the rapid
loading and unloading of intermodal container boxes by huge dockside cranes.
All kinds of cargo could be shipped in these boxes, which could be placed
on truck trailers or rail cars. Turnaround time for ships in port was drastically
reduced by this system. I remember how impressed I was by the way the crane
operators maneuvered large heavy containers from their precarious perches.
Driving
on the highway from Newark International Airport recently, I noticed vast
numbers of shipping containers stacked high, covering acres and acres in
the industrial area that forms the impression that most people have of
New Jersey. It reminded me of Kabul, Afghanistan in 1989, three months
after the Soviet pullout. Containers were everywhere, being put to use
as shops, warehouses, and offices. Obviously, the Russians had brought
in lots of materiél and the Afghans had nothing to export. To me,
these container storage facilities around Newark were a stark symbol of
America’s gaping trade deficit. The U.S. imports far more goods than it
exports, and the containers are accumulating here. In April 2001, according
to the U.S. Department of Commerce, we exported goods worth $62.1 billion
while importing goods worth $100.0 billion, a deficit of $37.9 billion
for one month.
The
Port of New York and New Jersey last year handled container traffic of
3,050,746 TEUs, or 20-foot equivalent units. (Containers come in 20 foot
and 40 foot lengths.) The number of containers handled was 1,828,636. The
gross tonnage imported was 13,552,230 tons and exported was 5,203,725 tons.
Since more containers came in than left, and since it is cheaper to buy
a new one in China than to send an empty one back, these boxes have to
go somewhere. Dockside space for storing containers and trailer chassis
has run out. In the Port Newark/Port Elizabeth area there are four container
depot companies with a number of lots in the vicinity of the ports. The
Wall Street Journal reports that up to 500,000 empty containers, double
the number of two years ago, are being stockpiled in the U.S. In a scene
repeated in port cities around the country, containers are piling up, resembling
abandoned cities or cubist monuments.
While viewing these new pyramids from the highway is fascinating, being inside a depot during operations is amazing. Streams of 18-wheelers enter and leave the facility constantly, either to pick up or drop off empty containers. Following a tractor-trailer from check-in, where the box is inspected for damage, one finds oneself in canyons of colorful boxes piled high. Caution is the watchword among the trucks and stackers moving around. The trucker will stop at the place where the particular shipping company’s boxes are stored, and a special lift machine will pick the box up from the trailer as the driver pulls his rig out of the way. Then the lift operator skillfully places the box in its proper stack, or starts a new stack. The depot I visited can stack containers eight high, about the height of a six-story building. It’s very impressive to see these huge boxes hoisted to this height and then delicately maneuvered so that all four corners lock on the container below. Of course, the process is often reversed, with containers being picked from stacks and lowered on to waiting trucks to be delivered to a port, warehouse, or factory.
Besides
the forklift (capable of up to three-high stacking), there are two types
of specialized heavy lift equipment in use at this depot. The most versatile
is the reach stacker, which is capable of up to eight-high stacking of
8'6" units and up to seven-high stacking of 9'6" units. It has a single
telescoping arm that can reach horizontally as well as vertically. The
second is the spreader, which is capable of up to seven-high stacking of
8'6" units and up to six-high stacking of 9'6" units. Each machine itself
is a fairly standard combination of an industrial lift truck chassis and
a turbo diesel engine; it's the lift attachment and related systems that
are uniquely tailored to the intermodal container application. Resembling
battle-bots on steroids, the stackers rumble around the yards, deftly picking
and placing big bulky boxes with ease. It’s a testament to the skill of
their operators to see a 40-foot container balancing on the end of the
reach stacker’s arm 70 feet in the air as it’s being lowered into place.
Many
of these containers are considered surplus and are for sale. Today one
sees former shipping boxes in use as storage facilities at construction
sites and they have even been converted for temporary office and classroom
use. There’s no question that they are an indicator of America’s trade
imbalance, but the container depot traffic serves as another economic indicator
as well. At the depot I visited, a checker told me that the volume of traffic
has decreased since George W. Bush became president; a sure sign that trade
is diminishing as the economy cools down. The D.O.C. trade graphs show
this trend. Perhaps container depot traffic should join housing starts
and wholesale inventories as a leading economic indicator.