Shipwreck "machine substitution" encounters union boycott

Shipwreck "machine substitution" encounters union boycott

On a recent morning, at one of the busiest freight terminals in the United States, more than 20 huge red robots transported container containers along the terminal to another group of robots. The latter group of robots scurried in rows of containers, and then Keep these containers in a stable place.

Image Credit: Patrick T. Fallon for The Wall Street Journal

Analysts predict that automation technology will reduce the time vessels stay in ports and increase productivity by about 30%. TraPac LLC Los Angeles Cargo Terminal's rigorously designed robotics pipeline provides a window into the future of global trade: the use of highly automated systems and machines to handle the mass of goods from future free trade agreements that will be signed to minimize human intervention. Many industry insiders believe that automation is the key to determining the ability of American ports to cope when trade volume is facing an explosion and giant cargo ships begin to arrive in the United States. Automation can improve the productivity and reliability of terminals while reducing labor costs. Analysts predict that automation technology will reduce the time vessels stay in ports and increase productivity by about 30%.

However, Trapc is one of only four freight terminals in the United States that use this technology. In Rotterdam, the Netherlands, there is more than this number of terminals using automation technology. Automated terminals at the Long Beach Port, adjacent to Los Angeles Port, have been gradually operationalized, and supporters of automated cargo handling have had new examples this month. The terminal costs more than $1 billion to handle 3.3 million 20-foot (about 6-meter) containers, close to half of the entire port's processing capacity last year; Orient Overseas (International) Ltd., 0316. HK, abbreviation: Orient Overseas International's project is a big bet for the future.

Mark Sisson, a senior port planner at infrastructure development group Aecom, said that the successful operation of Long Beach Port could persuade other US ports to follow suit. He said that from a global perspective, the industry is using this technology in a big way. This trend will only develop in one direction, and the speed of progress will only be a matter of time.

The port terminal infrastructure and operations experts said that due to the boycott of the port trade unions for many years, the United States has been making slow progress in adopting this technology. Some studies have shown that moving cargo handling can reduce the demand of port workers by 50%.

The union’s efforts to keep the automated operating ports as many artificial posts as possible may lead to long-term negotiations on which posts require manual operations. Increasing jobs will increase final operating costs, making it more difficult to recover hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in automated machinery and technology.

Shipwreck "machine substitution" encounters union boycott