Twice a week, ships leave Tacoma bound for Alaska, carrying everything from food and clothing to Xboxes and construction materials.
With more than 70 percent of water-bound goods to Alaska crossing the Tacoma docks, the slowdown related to ongoing contract negotiations could have left stores across the 49th state bare.
But unlike international imports and exports, Horizon and Totem Ocean Trailer Express, the primary companies that ship to Alaska, have not missed a sailing.
“TOTE and Horizon are the lifeline and bloodstream to Alaska,” said Dean McGrath, president of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 23. “We understand how time-sensitive operations are in terms of groceries.”
The ILWU has been in contract negotiations since May with the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents terminal operators and shipping lines at 29 West Coast ports from San Diego to Bellingham. Their previous six-year agreement expired July 1.
Due to the negotiations, international container operations at West Coasts ports have been reported as running at about half speed since Halloween, leaving containers of apples, potatoes and Christmas trees at risk of going bad, truck drivers out of work and goods destined for holiday shoppers stuck.
Ed Fitzgerald, CEO of Pacific Alaska Freightways, ships 100 to 150 containers to Alaska a week and other than some traffic delays at the Port of Tacoma, he said the company hasn’t had any problems.
Fred Meyer, which has 11 locations in Alaska, uses TOTE almost exclusively to ship product north and has not seen any impact at those locations from the slowdowns in Tacoma, company spokeswoman Melinda Merrill said.
“You’ve got to be a few weeks ahead of everyone down in the Lower 48 in terms of ordering,” said Stephen Longnecker, store director for one of the Anchorage Fred Meyer locations. “Logistically there are challenges with shipping at times, but right now we are not seeing that.”
While the majority of Alaska-bound cargo is shipped with TOTE and Horizon, some is barged out of the Port of Seattle with companies such as Alaska Marine Lines and Samson Tug and Barge.
Because these businesses are not PMA members and are not loaded by ILWU members, they also have avoided the slowdown. “We’ve been getting our shipments on time, and sometimes early,” said John Ouder-kerk, assistant store manager for Super Bear Supermarket in Juneau, which ships goods with Samson. “Our shelves are full,” he said.
This isn’t the first time Alaska has avoided getting stuck in the middle of contract negotiations. In 2002, when the PMA locked the union members out of the port for 12 days, ILWU continued to work with TOTE to move containers to Alaska, McGrath said.
