A Small Step Forward for the Port of Los Angeles

As of Friday October 22nd, the city of Long Beach issued an emergency order allowing businesses to temporarily increase the amount of containers they could stack in their lot. The order is in an effort to reduce the amount of congestion there is at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as well as availability of chassis and increase cargo flow. The rule change does not apply to terminals at the Port of Long Beach, which routinely stack containers up to six high. Many media reports over the weekend didn’t make a distinction between the port and inland zone, making it appear the port had new authority to increase vertical storage.

Warehouses and container yards will be able to stack more than the usual two containers; they will be able to stack up to four containers high. “Companies can stack up to five containers with certain safety approvals from the fire department, the city manager said in a statement.” This emergency order is in effect for 90 days which aligns with the peak of shipping and holiday shopping seasons. “The zoning restrictions were added to the city code years ago to minimize the visual impact of industrial equipment in neighborhoods. The temporary rule change only applies to properties that are currently zoned to store containers.”

Source: Freightwaves.com