Starting Monday, Oakland port will require truck appointments

Port of Oakland

Beginning Monday, truckers will need an appointment to pick up imported containers at Port of Oakland’s largest marine terminal.

Oakland International Container Terminal will mandate appointments for most containerized import pickups to shorten truck waits and speed up delivery. The terminal handles 67 percent of Oakland’s container shipments, the port stated.

Import pickups represent the most time-consuming process at the terminal, where rubber-tired gantry cranes lift containers from rows stacked five high. Appointments to enter terminal gates are already available.

OICT will not require appointments for other transactions, such as returning empty containers and picking up the following imports:

• Peel-offs, which allow truckers to take the first imported container from a stack going to the same customer.
• Dray-offs, which are imports taken to a nearby facility and are available for round-the–clock pick up.
• Pre-mounted loads, which are import containers attached to chassis and immediately ready for delivery.

Since 2014, varying degrees of appointment systems have been implemented ports at Los Angeles/Long Beach, New York/New Jersey and New Orleans.