INTERMODAL CHASSIS AVAILABILITY FOR CONTAINERIZED AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS A Case Study of the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland Cyrus Ramezani, Ph.D.
[email protected] Chris Carr, J.D.
[email protected] Orfalea College of Business California Polytechnic State University 1 Grand Avenue San Luis Obispo, California 93407 Report Prepared for USDA-AMS USDA Cooperative Agreement No. 19-TMTSD-CA-0003 25 February 2021 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research was supported by Cooperative Agreement Number 19-TMTSD-CA-0003 with the Agricultural Marketing Services (AMS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The opin- ions and conclusions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of USDA or AMS. The authors gratefully acknowledge industry participants, including agricultural exporters, ship- pers, freight forwarders, chassis providers, motor carriers, and various Ports’ staff, for their input and data related to this research. Mr. Kevin Gard served as an outstanding graduate research assistant on this project. Any errors or omissions are the sole responsibility of the authors. Contents List of Tables 5 List of Figures6 Executive Summary7 1 Introduction and Problem Statement9 2 Objectives and Scope of the Study 11 3 Methodology 14 4 U.S. and California Agricultural Exports 15 4.1 Containerized Agricultural Exports.......................... 23 5 Containerized Agricultural Exports Through California Ports 25 5.1 Port of Los Angeles.................................. 27 5.2 Port of Long Beach.................................. 36 5.3 Port of Oakland.................................... 45 6 The Rise of Mega Ships and Chassis Shortages 54 6.1 Mapping Container Volume to Chassis Demand and Supply............. 61 6.2 Chassis Supply at California Ports.........................