Eastern Railroad Discussion > NJ - Port Jersey Terminal expanding, big time

Port Jersey Terminal is a docks complex located at the south end of Jersey City, NJ. Global Container is a large shipper at the docks, and it plans to modernize the terminal with highly automated (fewer jobs) container unloaders. That should increase the already substantial volume of container trains from the yard, or the nearby Oak Island and South Kearny yards.

Part of PJT is composed of the former Pennsylvania Railroad Greenville yards. The area has been subdivided into container docks, auto unloading (BMW is a big customer), Tropicana plant, the Brooklyn car float operation, and the Port Jersey Terminal Railroad. For a small area, it is served by Conrail shared assets, the Tropicana switcher, the Port Jersey's switchers, and the Cross Harbor railroad (or its successor). This is the NY metro end of the Tropicana Orange Juice train.

In the first wave of containerization on the New Jersey side, most longshoremen were guaranteed lifetime employment and guaranteed minimum salaries if they accepted the boxes in place of break bulk. The deal was accepted, and many of those guys have retired or are near retirement. Although it was an expensive deal, everyone has gained. In comparison, the article notes that employment has gone from 27,000 to 3,500.

The company, according to the NJ.com article, has been discussing the automation with the membership. The membership is quite unhappy, and the scope of the automation (going from 38 boxes to 45 boxes) isn't sufficient to finance a deal a like one their fathers and uncles got in the 1980s.

This has the potential to substantially juice the flow of containers on rail out of Newark, if they can resolve the issue of the Bayonne bridge blocking the largest container ships.


http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/01/longshoremen_rally_against_doc.html

One big issue I have about the increased tolls in the NY/NJ area, a good bit of which will fund the raising of the Bayonnne Bridge, is that they really impact the Howland Hook terminal on Staten Island.

Truckers hauling containers to/from Howland Hook have to pay higher tolls on the Bayonne Bridge (and by extension the steamship lines and/or the shippers pay the higher tolls) in order to raise the bridge to allow larger ships to call at Howland Hook's competing terminals.

Basically, you're charging Howland Hook to pay for improvements that benefit others. We have already seen one steamship line pull a vessel service out of Howland and shift it to Global as a result of these tolls.

Bandito Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> One big issue I have about the increased tolls in
> the NY/NJ area, a good bit of which will fund the
> raising of the Bayonnne Bridge, is that they
> really impact the Howland Hook terminal on Staten
> Island.
>
> Truckers hauling containers to/from Howland Hook
> have to pay higher tolls on the Bayonne Bridge
> (and by extension the steamship lines and/or the
> shippers pay the higher tolls) in order to raise
> the bridge to allow larger ships to call at
> Howland Hook's competing terminals.
>
> Basically, you're charging Howland Hook to pay for
> improvements that benefit others. We have already
> seen one steamship line pull a vessel service out
> of Howland and shift it to Global as a result of
> these tolls.

Howland Hook is "west" of the Bayonne Bridge, so it will benefit from raising the bridge. Just like Ports Newark and Elizabeth, Linden, E-Rail, etc

You may be thinking of Port Jersey Terminal and the former Military Ocean Terminal, which are behind the Statue of Liberty on New York Bay. They don't require a raising of the Bayonne Bridge (and might be better off without it being raised).

"Substantial volume of container trains from Oak Island yard?" Container and stack train DO NOT originate or terminate in Oak Island yard. Where are you reffering?: Port Newark, Erail, South Karney, Bergen, etc...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/12 10:36 by shorthoodlead.