OakPass Fee Program Hoped to Start This Fall

While work toward the OakPass program at the Port of Oakland is still in the early stages, the Federal Maritime Commission already has some detailed information on the plan, said John Cushing, president of PierPass during an Aug. 20 interview. PierPass, which is commonly associated with the “OffPeak” program in the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, will serve as the underlying administration services, including the hardware and software used for the payments, said Cushing. “OakPass is the program and PierPass will do that administration,” he said.

The operators have provided the agency specifics on the plans for operations an additional day, he said. The associated fees will likely mirror the cost structure at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, he said. “We have done a very thorough analysis of all the costs associated with running these,” Cushing said. The National Industrial Transportation League recently asked the FMC to take a closer look at the proposal before giving its approval (see 1508200011).

The plan is to have the program going by the fourth quarter, with Nov. 1 as a preliminary target date, Cushing said. There are some other issues that need to be figured out before operations start, he said. For example, making sure there’s enough labor available for the extended hours at the Port of Oakland, which recently brought on and is training new longshoremen, he said. Other than the NITL, there has not been much feedback, though a planned “big outreach” has not yet started, Cushing said. Cushing said he was unaware of any other port or terminal groups that are implementing similar programs.