Rutgers Engineers Address Container Backlog in N.J. Ports

Empty freight containers stacking up in seaport regions present shipping firms and government
agencies with challenges in managing business
assets and protecting the environment.

Engineers from Rutgers, The State University of
New Jersey, are proposing new strategies to deal
with the issue at a regional level.

Containerized shipping has become the lifeblood
of the global economy, efficiently transporting
materials and manufactured goods from sellers
on one side of the ocean to buyers on the other.
Where the truck-sized metal shipping containers
end up in this global shuffle, however, is
another matter. Shifts in trade balance and the
overall economy can result in the accumulation
of empty containers.

In a presentation to the New York Metropolitan
Transportation Council Wednesday, Oct. 19, an
engineer from Rutgers will describe a study now
under way to monitor the buildup of empty
containers in New Jersey and understand the
business conditions that promote it. The study
also will propose strategies to better manage
container movement within the region.

"With the United States importing almost two
times more goods by volume than we export, we
end up with more loaded containers entering our
country than leaving it," said Maria Boile,
assistant professor of civil and environmental
engineering at Rutgers. "In past years, shipping
lines found it cheaper to keep building new
containers overseas than to ship back empties,
resulting in thousands of idle containers
stacked seven-high on industrial sites around
New Jersey's ports."

Some people find these stacks to be an eyesore
and a source of noise Pollution, when wind
whistles through gaps between the containers.
Some are also concerned that the containers
consume increasingly scarce land. From a
business point-of-view, empty containers are an
underutilized asset. A better understanding of
their flow into and around the region can help
boost their productive use and cut storage needs
and consequent undesirable impacts.

Boile noted that we've entered a business cycle
where the number of empty containers stored in
the state appears to be dropping. Rising
steel costs are making it more expensive to
build new containers in or near the countries of
origin. And with continuing growth in shipping
traffic, demand for container space keeps
rising. Shipping companies are now finding it
economical to take back the empties.

"This is a cyclical business, however," said
Boile, "and sometime in the future, we will
start to accumulate empties again. So now is a
good time to study the issue and prepare
ourselves to effectively manage it. As a
university, we can provide a broad and impartial
view of the business and alert the region's
stakeholders of any potential issues."

One aspect of the Rutgers study is to minimize
the number of movements that containers make
within the New York region or between ports on
the East Coast. The goal will be to determine
how quickly a container can be unloaded at its
destination and either get refilled or returned
empty to the shipping company for an ocean
voyage back to its source. Current
inefficiencies in local container movement may
be contributing to container accumulation.

Another aspect is to propose secondary markets
for surplus containers. Some may be sold or
leased for use as temporary storage, while older
ones may be singled out for steel recycling, if
reuse looks uneconomical.

"There are costs to reuse and recycling," Boile
said. "We will study local tax and depreciation
incentives and advocate that they align with
global shipping trends."

Boile and her colleague, visiting Professor
Sotiris Theofanis, are conducting their research
as part of the Maritime Infrastructure
Engineering and Management Program in Rutgers'
Center for Advanced Infrastructure and
Transportation. The New Jersey Department of
Transportation is sponsoring the study.