Characteristics of drayage operations at the Port of Houston.
-
2008-09-01
-
Details:
-
Creators:
-
Corporate Creators:
-
Corporate Contributors:
-
Subject/TRT Terms:
-
Publication/ Report Number:
-
Resource Type:
-
Geographical Coverage:
-
Edition:Technical report.
-
Corporate Publisher:
-
Abstract:Port drayage, defined as a container truck pickup to or from a seaport terminal with both the trip
origin and destination in the same urban area, is a critical yet comparatively understudied link in the
intermodal supply chain. Because port dray trucks operate primarily in urban environments, they can have
a significant impact on congestion and air quality. The primary goal of this study is to identify key dray
industry characteristics at the Port of Houston Authority (POHA) to help planners prepare for increasing
container volumes while maintaining profitability and mitigating societal costs. The report gives the results
of interviews with dray managers and a survey of 103 port drivers at the Port of Houston Barbours Cut
container terminal on demographics, working conditions, truck characteristics, route characteristics and
port operations. The results of the study are then compared against the existing literature, most of which
comes from the Los Angeles area. Substantial variation is shown in the age and mileage of trucks. While
only a minority of drivers was unsatisfied with overall terminal efficiency, many had suggestions on ways
in which efficiency could be improved. The industry is found to be relatively stable despite the increasing
demands placed by high container growth rates which have created a shortage of drivers at some locations.
Lastly, the report examines methods in which the dray fleet could be modernized through air quality
improvement grants.
-
Format:
-
Funding:
-
Collection(s):
-
Main Document Checksum:
-
Download URL:
-
File Type: