[110619.EN.SEA] APL Switches to LA's TraPac Terminal To Reduce Turn Times

SINGAPORE'S container carrier APL, now a CMA CGM unit, says it is moving its Eagle Express X (EXX) service this month to the TraPac terminal in Los Angeles from Fenix Marine Services in an effort to reduce turn times and have better access to freeways.

"The TraPac terminal is ranked among the top three terminals with the best truck turn times in Los Angeles and Long Beach," said APL vice president Jesper Stenbak.

"Conveniently located for easy truck access to and from the major freeways, its location will facilitate quicker container pickup by truckers who will gain priority access of the EXX-exclusive gates," he said.

With the move, APL said the terminal will be set up to deliver same-day cargo availability of EXX shipments on dedicated chassis and enable immediate drayage of EXX RailFlash containers to an off-dock rail facility for expedited transfers to Chicago, Memphis, Dallas and Kansas City. The TraPac terminal will also house an EXX-dedicated container yard designed for operational flexibility.

"APL has been consistently delivering above expectations with 99 per cent of the containers on chassis and available for collection within just 12 hours of vessel discharge when the vessel arrived in LA each week," Mr Stenbak said.

"Further, we are now committing to deliver a truck turn time of 25 minutes for cargo pickup and 40 minutes for both cargo pickup and equipment returns at TraPac, versus an 87-minute average recorded by the industry in Los Angeles and Long Beach."

The 5,108-TEU APL Thailand is scheduled to make its maiden call at the TraPac terminal on June 18. The weekly EXX service calls ports in Ningbo, Shanghai, Los Angeles, Dutch Harbour, Yokohama and Busan. The service also will begin calling Honolulu every alternate week beginning August 23, reports American Shipper.

Source : HKSG.