Automakers Seek Ways Around West Coast Port Dispute

The smooth running of the trans-Pacific pipeline that carries both components and finished vehicles from Asia to the U.S. has been disrupted by a labor dispute at West Coast ports that’s been building since last summer and now threatens the business of all sorts of companies, in addition to automakers.

The dispute between the Pacific Maritime Assn., which operates the ports on the West Coast, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, has escalated in recent weeks, putting pressure on businesses and industries that depend on traffic through the ports, particularly the huge Port of Los Angeles-Long Beach complex.

Craig Merrilees, ILWU communications director, says the best estimate is that more than 25 ships carrying more than 250,000 containers are anchored off Los Angeles.

Freighters that ply the shipping lanes across the Pacific routinely carry upwards of 10,000 containers each and the ships are getting bigger, with some capable of carrying more than 18,000 containers.

“Due to delays in the processing of overseas parts at the West Coast ports, we have adjusted overtime at some plants in North America as needed. In an effort to minimize production disruptions, we are expediting shipments by air, a standard method we use as needed,” says Mike Goss, spokesman for Toyota, which operates an extensive network of assembly and manufacturing plants in the U.S. 

Honda spokesman Mark Morrison says in an e-mail the automaker is acting to minimize disruption at its factories.

“At this time, Honda has maintained production at our auto assembly operations and we have not experienced any downtime during our core production shifts,” he says. “We have been working to maintain the flow of parts to our North American plants, including utilizing alternative means of transportation, in the effort to maintain production for our customers.

“We are using a combination of air cargo and special truck shipments to obtain key parts.”

Morrison adds the dispute has had no impact on the relatively small number of Honda and Acura models that are exported from Japan to the U.S.

Nissan has begun to brief executives on the impact of the dispute along the West Coast. “This is a fluid situation that we continue to monitor very closely,” spokesman Brian Brockman says.

With its assembly plants in the U.S. and Mexico operating at maximum capacity, the Japanese automaker has been looking at using imported vehicles to keep dealerships stocked. However, at this point the dispute has not reduced dealer inventories, Nissan officials emphasize.

Hyundai spokesman Jim Trainor says: “With measures including additional shipping and diversification of transportation routes, there has been no impact yet on production and we continue to limit the impact on aftermarket service parts that end up at our dealerships.”