Port of Vancouver disappointed by poor efficiency ranking, says change is coming

After placing near the bottom in a global port efficiency ranking two years in a row, the Port of Vancouver's operations VP says port expansions and investments will buck the trend, even as he called into question the accuracy of the ranking system.

Peter Xotta, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority's vice president of operations and supply chain, said he was disappointed the port placed second last of 348 container ports in a ranking compiled by World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The study used vessel wait-times as an indicator of overall efficiency, with Vancouver ranking third-last in its 2022 report.

"I think the ratings system is challenged to be accurate at a time when we've got this level of volatility in the supply chain," he told CBC News, referring to the ongoing fallout from issues like the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2021 atmospheric river that paralyzed B.C.'s road and rail systems last year.

Xotta said each port is different and questioned the methodology authors used to make fair comparisons.

"It's really difficult to do what they've done in terms of trying to create an apples-to-apples comparison across ports, and they did it right in the middle of the beginning of a pandemic," he said.

In 2022, container volumes at the Vancouver port fell by four per cent year-over-year amid softer consumer demand and overstocked inventories, but last year's total still marked the third-highest volume on record.

Full container yards and a lack of storage space at distribution hubs meant cargo vessels sat at anchor for roughly 10 days on average in the first half of 2022 — more than twice as long as a year earlier — before docking at the country's largest port.

Xotta admits the port still needs to do better but said its Roberts Bank Terminal 2 expansion, which would reportedly increase capacity by 60 per cent, will help decrease wait-times. An alliance of environmental groups has launched a legal challenge against the expansion.

A $350 million expansion on the shores of Burrard Inlet was completed earlier this year, and Xotta says $1 billion is being spent on improving road and rail infrastructure.

"I'm optimistic with the things that we're doing, and with some restoration of a more normal supply chain operations, our ranking will be restored to where it was pre-pandemic," he said.

Truckers frustrated

The ranking comes at a time when many truckers have grown increasingly frustrated by the inefficiencies they say they have experienced over the past three years.

"The way management is working, they're currently focused on expansion. They don't care about performance and how the existing facilities and expansions are going on," said Gagan Singh, a spokesperson for the United Truckers Association.

"They need to focus on what exactly is going on on the waterfront," he said.

Singh says there aren't enough appointments for trucking companies to offload or pick up goods, leading to long waits both inside and outside of the terminals.

Possible strike looming

Meanwhile, earlier this week, cargo loaders at B.C.'s ports voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action against local maritime employers, although both sides are still negotiating.

The strike vote gives cargo movers additional leverage in talks with employers, allowing the union to file 72-hours notice of a strike that could begin on June 24 if negotiations with the B.C. Maritime Employers Association fall apart.

The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade is calling on both sides to come to an agreement, warning that it could lead to further supply chain disruptions across B.C. and Canada.

Xotta says the port is hopeful that won't happen.

"We'd like to see the threat of disruption remedied as quickly as possible," he said.