News / California leases out container storage sites as part of plan to ease congestion

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The state government of California has moved to lease six off-dock properties, with a standing capacity of some 20,000 containers. The move, announced on 15 February, is the latest in a series of steps designed to alleviate supply chain bottlenecks.

The six sites are located northeast of Los Angeles and east of San Francisco, and have been leased by national warehouse marketplace Chunker from the state Department of General Services for an initial one-year term, with an option for a second year.

California state governor Gavin Newsom said: “California has taken swift action to keep goods moving at the state’s ports, leveraging our strategic partnerships to develop multifaceted solutions, including securing additional storage space for thousands of shipping containers.”

Brad Wright, CEO of Chunker, added: “Container storage is a major component of the congestion at the ports as well as a part of the nationwide supply chain crisis. Having access to the state property will allow us to store 20,000 containers or more, which will free up a significant amount of space at the ports.”

The Department of General Services has said it is continuing to build partnerships that will ease supply chain issues. These include:

• A strategic partnership between the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) and the US Department of Transportation for up to $5bn in loan financing to advance a comprehensive, state-wide portfolio of freight, goods movement and supply chain resiliency projects.
• Issuing temporary permits allowing trucks to carry increased loads on state highway and interstate routes between the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and other state-wide ports.
• Doubling the Department of Motor Vehicles’ capacity to conduct commercial driving tests to address the national shortage of workers in the industry.
• Securing a 22-acre pop-up site, in partnership with the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the US Department of Agriculture, located at the Port of Oakland to assist agricultural exporters in storing products and getting them onto containers. This site is expected to be operational on March 1.