In May, the port handled 230,511 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), an increase of 13 percent increase when compared with the same month last year. The port set its previous mark for monthly TEU volume in March, having handled 229,000 units.
“We are on pace to show significant growth – set records — for both the calendar and fiscal year,” said John F. Reinhart, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority. “So our effort is to continue to reinvest in facilities, equipment and people to be able to deliver consistency to all port users and improve service for motor carriers.”
Some of the reinvestments include:
• A temporary yard / stack for rail containers at Virginia International Gateway (VIG) (set for completion at the end of June) that will create more velocity in the main stack for motor carriers.
• The addition of 1,000 new chassis to Hampton Roads Chassis Pool by summer’s end (500 lease and 500 purchased).
• Implementation of an automated gate at Norfolk International Terminals (NIT).
• Continuing the Saturday gate hours at VIG, NIT and the Pinners Point Container Yard (PPCY).
• The addition of several new members to the port’s operations team.
• At Portsmouth Marine Terminal, improvements and repairs to the berth along with maintenance dredging to ensure 43 feet of
alongside depth.
• An investment of $40 million-plus on container handling equipment.
In May, the port processed 87,455 truck moves, up 21.5 percent; vessel calls, up 0.6 percent; rail containers, up 3 percent; Virginia Inland Port volume, down 0.3 percent; and barge containers, down 4.5 percent. Vehicle units soared in May as the port handled 8,675 import vehicles from Nissan and Chrysler at Newport News Marine Terminal (NNMT). The month’s total was driven, in part, by Chrysler automobiles that were diverted to Virginia from another US East Coast port. May’s total for vehicles processed at NNMT is the highest monthly result since January 1988.
“With the service that we have delivered to the customer in this area of operation, we are well-positioned to build this segment of business,” Reinhart said.
Thus far into the calendar year, the port’s TEU volume is up 9.5 percent compared with the same period last year; truck moves, up 12 percent; vessel calls, up 2 percent; rail containers, up 8 percent; Virginia Inland Port volume, down 3.8 percent; barge containers, down 5 percent; and vehicle units, up 48 percent. “We continue to be tested with these mounting monthly volumes; our busy peak season is not far off and we anticipate that we will see cargo volume that exceeds May’s result,” Reinhart said. “We continue to prepare and are in a better position to strategically act to handle volume and build velocity with consistent service.”