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the railways can find a balance to meet the demands of the
markets they serve.
“The capability of the West Coast terminals has always
been there,” he said. “When push comes to shove, they
always perform.”
Issues at the ports are also affected by outside factors.
Mills suggested that independent business decisions
made along the supply chain can negatively impact its
efficiency. For instance, the cost of chartering vessels is at
a record low, as are daily demurrage charges imposed on
idle ships. Six years ago, demurrage might have totalled
up to $75,000 per day, but it is now between $7,000 and
$10,000. While this may provide grain companies more
logistical flexibility, it may also encourage lineups as ships
are secured to ensure their availability.
When anchorage space is clogged with empty vessels
awaiting grain, other commodity movers incur greater costs
in securingmoorage elsewhere up the coast. Mills suggested
supply-chain stakeholders might work more closely to increase
efficiencies and ensure timilier, predictable grain movement.
“With that larger perspective, we can grow the pie as
opposed to trying to grow our piece of the pie,” he explained.
Such co-operative interaction is a hallmark of the port
authority’s operations. Contrary to popular perception, labour
disruptions involving the 15 unions represented at the port are
rare. And when striking non-union truckers working at the port’s
container terminal brought PMV operations to a standstill, the
port helped launch a 14-point action plan that resulted in an end
to the work stoppage.
The port has also worked collectively with the Chamber of
Shipping of British Columbia, the British Columbia Maritime
Employers Association, the Grain Workers Union and Transport
Canada to create a set of regulations that allows grain to be
loaded in wet weather. Previously, rain delay caused an annual
20 per cent loss in handling efficiency.
“It’s a web of activities that all can have significant impacts on
the overall community,” said Mills. “We try to initiate dialogue
to create awareness around those issues and create interest in
resolving them.”
THE GATEWAY INITIATIVE
Answering to the federal minister of transportation, the
Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s duty is largely to ensure the
assets it owns and manages run efficiently and safely, and to
act as a landlord to its tenants. Notably, it has decision-making
autonomy over its operations; this includes borrowing and
accumulating funds for the purpose of maintaining its mandate.
Under the Marine Act, the federal government cannot pay for
port infrastructure.
What the port authority doesn’t do is directly touch the
supply chain, leaving the handling of goods to independent
terminal operators. However, the port authority involves itself
when issues such as anchorage usage and supply backups arise
within its jurisdiction.
“We have in the past become engaged, when necessary,
to ensure that we work toward the most efficient reality
possible,” explained Mills. “Sometimes, it’s more
complicated than other times,” he added, directing a piece
of well-aimed understatement at the massive, ongoing,
federal Asia–Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative (APGCI)
spearheaded by the port.
Roughly 10 years ago, PMV began to extend its planning
window to better accommodate the time it takes to secure
investment dollars for large infrastructure projects and to
physically complete them. The port initiated a series of studies
forecasting its growth needs decades into the future. It also
took the lead in engaging the British Columbia and federal
governments, as well as supply-chain stakeholders, in identifying
and accommodating trade opportunities and creating an
agreement to collectively fund necessary infrastructure.
This process produced the APGCI, under which the port is
undergoing a long-term upgrade with the goal of making the
country’s West Coast import–export network the top trade
link between Asia and North America. Much of the program
Fall
2014
Grains
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