Draytech Summit Offers Glimpse of Port Trucking’s Future
New trucks were available to Draytech attendees to check out during the event. Photos: Steven Martinez
“>
New trucks were available to Draytech attendees to check out during the event. Photos: Steven Martinez
“>
Not far from where the Queen Mary is moored, across the bay from Downtown Long Beach, California, the Harbor Trucking Association held its inaugural Draytech Summit June 28, bringing together port servicing companies and technology suppliers for a day of networking and learning.
At a venue near the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach with views of the harbor’s blue waters, attendees were given first-hand demonstrations of the latest technologies designed to streamline operations on every level, from dispatch to planning to driver hours of service.
The theme of the event was drayage-focused technology, and a small exhibition hall hosted 25 booths with technology exhibitors like Blackberry, Sprint, Driver iQ and others.
Other more port-focused companies, like ChassisFinder.com, tackled problems such as bringing the process of short-term chassis rentals online. There were also several trucks on hand in the parking lot, showcasing the latest regional tractors, including the recently launched International RH.
Mario Cordero, the executive director of the Port of Long Beach, addressed the group at the start, emphasizing the ports’ goal of remaining competitive with ports in Savannah, Georgia, and others along the East Coast with a recent Panama Canal expansion that could entice traffic away from Southern California. But more than just staying competitive, the goal of the afternoon was to show how technology can be used to increase efficiency and potentially increase market share, said Cordero.
The Queen Mary is now a permanent fixture of the bay, attached to the docks and operating mostly as a kitschy hotel, bar, and tourist attraction in 2017. Once one of the largest vessels on the sea, the famous old ocean liner is now outsized by the ever-larger container ships sailing …Read the rest of this story
