As of 11 a.m. on Feb. 1, 326 trucks had exited the east gate of the SSA Marine Oakland International Container Terminal in California, marking an average total turn time of one hour and 12 minutes. That’s according to the Port of Oakland’s Freight Intelligent Transportation System (FITS), launched a month ago, that aims to improve operations across the port for its many stakeholders, including truck drivers.
The FITS solution includes the new Oakland Portal that provides improved efficiency and visibility into the movement of goods through real-time insight into vessel operations and statuses, regional traffic conditions, rail crossing access, turn time data and more.
The Oakland Portal’s website and app displays a snapshot of the total turn time for each of the four terminals on the main page with the option to click on each for additional details like specific gate information. Each truck that enters a terminal is required to have a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag that is read at the entrance and exit security booths beginning at 0600 every day. The time it takes each truck to get from the security entrance to security exit is the truck turn time.
Pia Franzese, senior maritime projects administrator at the Port of Oakland, said turn times is just one of the many pieces of information the new portal offers, and this level of visibility all in one place will have a positive impact on the efficiency and collaboration of port activities, creating a domino effect for stakeholders, improving their decision-making abilities for their individual needs.
“The Port of Oakland (Port) launched the FITS portal to help solve port challenges and provide a centralized source for reliable, real-time information. Before FITS, we had increasingly heard feedback from Port stakeholders that they had to go to multiple sites to get information for Port operations, creating a cumbersome process with conflicting information. Multiple platforms led to inefficiencies and confusion for users,” Franzese said. “The intent of the Oakland Portal is to have a one-stop platform where port stakeholders can go to find secure information relevant to them, such as information about terminals and turn times. The portal serves as the foundation for the port’s data technology, which will continue to expand. We plan to continuously add to this portal, such as a smart parking system and container data, among many others.”
FITS is comprised of various IT hardware and software infrastructure elements, including upgrades to the port’s fiber, installing changeable message signs to the roadway, a buildout of an emergency operations center, a weigh-in-motion scale so truckers can weigh themselves on the way out and smart cameras that collect metrics on vehicle speeds, traffic patterns and pedestrian counts that the port reports internally and externally to stakeholders. Additional intelligence is added to these devices, such as video analytics, Franzese said, to determine how long it takes a truck driver to wait at a terminal and then get through a terminal. The information comes together in the Oakland Portal to improve situational awareness and management for users, which improves mobility and safety, she said. Another part of FITS included the development of two applications: the Oakland Portal and the Smart Parking System (SPS). The SPS, launching later this year, will allow stakeholders to make parking reservations.
“Together, all of these elements work to improve operational efficiencies and provide real-time, reliable information to port stakeholders, such as truckers, terminal operators, wharfingers and ocean carriers, to enable better-informed, data-driven decisions,” Franzese said.
