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The Southern California logistics industry could be several years recovering from recent labor strife at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, according to a group of industry members.
The dispute, which has yet to be officially resolved, has caused so much havoc at both facilities that everyone had to focus exclusively on the resolving that dispute, said Reade Kidd, Home Depot’s director of international logistics.
“We spent one year not innovating, one year not thinking about how to solve our future problems,” said Kidd, part of a panel discussion Thursday at the Southern California 2015 Logistics & Supply Chain Summit in Pomona. “And by ‘we,’ I mean the entire industry. We all took a year off. It’s been a tough last year.”
The event featured officials from throughout the industry, all of whom deplored much of the current operations at the port facilities.
One panelist even claimed that Domino’s can move pizza faster and more efficiently than some port companies are able to move goods off the docks.
“I can pick up the phone right now, call Disneyland and find out how long it takes to get on Pirates of the Caribbean, “ said Alex Cherin, an attorney with the California Trucking Association. “Why can’t I do the same thing with the ports? I think the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach can be as efficient as Disneyland.”
All of the panelists deplored the recent strike, which involved charges of poor working conditions at the ports. The dispute caused massive delays in the delivery of some goods, delays that are still being resolved.
Everyone agreed that the logistics industry must work as a team to prevent future labor strife at the ports, but one panelist reminded everyone that problems moving goods aren’t anything new.
“This didn’t start with the labor issues,” said B.J. Patterson, president and chief executive officer of Pacific Mountain Logistics. “That only made it worse.”
The one-day event was held at the Sheraton Fairplex Convention Center. It was co-sponsored by the Center for Supply Chain & Logistics at the Drucker School of Management and the Inland Empire Economic Partnership.
