As US consumers order record numbers of products from overseas, US ports are increasingly cramped. Port operators say that only one thing is useful: robots.
Much of the loading and processing work at US coastal ports, which handled almost half of US trade in 2020, is done manually despite long-standing automated overseas terminals such as terminals in Rotterdam and Brisbane.
Port operators are pushing for expanding the use of robotics to reduce the costs of global trade. See how port automation works.
How does cargo travel through ports today?
When a container ship, which carries everything from food to clothing and electronics, arrives at all but three US ports, it is greeted by human workers.
The operator sits in a traditional crane taxi, lifts an 8-foot wide shipping container from the ship, sorts it in the dockyard, then moves to a truck or train.
Some U.S. devices have added technology that allows workers to “semi-automatically” the process, with operators remotely controlling cranes from off-site offices and monitoring them via video links, but the system has the ability to do most of the work, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office investigation. Advocates of automation say computer modeling allows semi-automatic cranes to stack containers in a more optimal order, one after the other than humans.
Other workers monitor containers as they enter or leave the terminal. Some US operators are also trying to automate this, deploying gate systems with radio frequency identification systems (RFIDs), barcode readers and cameras to identify and track tracks through terminals.
The tools, along with extended hours, helped to idle trucks for hours and reduce the backlog of port terminal gates that can cause road congestion and air pollution, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
But even with these tools, U.S. ports are struggling to keep up with the surge in imports, says Jean-Paul Rodrigue, professor of maritime business at Texas A&M University.
“You can do all sorts of tricks, operational research, information technology, management systems, better equipment, but at some point you need to automate it to increase productivity,” he says.
Can a robot speed up port automation?
Rotterdam Port, one of the most automated ports in the world © Peter Boer/Bloomberg
In the fully automated port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, all cargo movements are coordinated by workers in the central control room. From there, the agent unloads the container from the ship and then directly improves the automatic stacking crane, where the autoguiding vehicle moves around the yard.
However, experts are split into data on how to prove productivity increases and cost savings from robotics. A McKinsey survey of 40 global port executives, equipment suppliers and more in 2017 found that automating transportation terminals reduced operational costs by 15-35%, but robotics failed to meet expectations for increased productivity by 35%.
Instead, productivity has typically dropped by 11%, according to the survey. McKinsey said the main pitfalls of automating ports are lack of qualified engineers, poor data and inadequate close collaboration with different parts of the port, resulting in numerous situations that deviate from standard practice.
US devices with fully automated implementations “overestimated” how much labor costs could be saved as a result, says Geraldine Nutz, former executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, who is now a professor at the University of Southern California.
What are the issues involved?
Crane lifts containers into automated guided vehicles at the port of Long Beach, California ©Lauren Justice/Bloomberg
One of the biggest barriers to automation is the cost of the robot itself. An port operator interviewed by the US Government’s Office of Accountability said automation requires large upfront investments that may not have been fully recovered before the equipment was worn out within 10-20 years.
Workers say current robotics technology struggles with moving containers between multiple modes of transport compared to moving from one ship to another.
Human workers could also be faster to adapt to supply chain challenges like those experienced during the Covid pandemic. The union representing dock workers in the eastern US and Gulf Ports has denounced automated terminals at ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach for idling 86 ships in the Pacific Ocean in November 2021.
“Automation is not the panacea that is often portrayed,” the ILA leader said in a statement last year.
Dockworkers unions, including the ILA, are also fighting hard against the spread of automated tools.
However, analysts say port operators will be forced to expand their use of robotics if import demand increases as expected.
Otherwise, Rodrig adds: “In the next decade or so, with the continued growth of traffic, it will be nearly impossible to operate terminals in the US.”
