Empty Container Depot Opens in Long Beach

The Temporary Empty Container Depot on Pier S at the Port of Long Beach opened for business December 29 to provide a means for truckers to free up truck-trailer chassis they need to move loaded containers out of marine terminals.

Ongoing congestion caused in part by a lack of available chassis – the wheeled frames used to move shipping containers on the road – has caused delays in shipments. The depot allows chassis to return to servicing the terminals more quickly.

Located at 2601 Pier S Lane in Long Beach, the 30-acre site is operated by Pasha Stevedoring and Terminals. The depot is scheduled to close March 31, 2015.

Because many terminals are congested and have little room to accept empty cargo containers, more space is needed to temporarily store those empties.

In other efforts to ease congestion, the port has facilitated the introduction by private chassis fleets of an additional 3,000 chassis into the local area and identified a plan for the port to operate its own chassis fleet for peak cargo shipping season and peak demand.