The Association of Bi-State Motor Carriers, which represents intermodal trucking firms at the port, has long pushed for accelerating the evacuation of empties due to the constraints their repositioning imposes on drivers. In a statement to JOC.com, Bi-State President Lisa Yakomin said that the group’s members are seeing some respite from dealing with empties, but there are still instances where drivers are forced to drive miles from the port to unload an empty or get blocked from returning an empty to the port due to a lack of terminal appointments.
“While we have seen some ocean carriers step up their efforts to evacuate empties following the announcement of the ‘container imbalance fee,’ motor carriers are still experiencing shut outs on a daily basis due to lack of available space and/or lack of appointment availability,” Yakomin said.