Spread out Vessel Sailings and Arrivals in the Trans-Pacific Trade to make maximum use of terminal capacity.

Because of manufacturing practices in Asia, there is a clear bias toward east-bound weekend sailings, which means that vessels are more likely to arrive at the West Coast of the United States on Thursdays and Fridays and Saturdays. Because of this bunching, the port complex has traditionally been strained during peak periods, and under-used during slow periods.

The advent of mega-ships carrying 8,000 TEUs may have obscured this basic pattern to some degree--because it takes more days to unload a large ship--but the fact remains that there is still a bias toward weekend sailings and late week arrivals.

Changing business practices to spread out arrivals in such a way as to make better use of existing terminal, rail and truck capacity should be an issue that shippers and carriers begin to explore. New vessel sailing schedules would require shippers to make changes in their production schedules, but the results could be significant in faster transit times.