Ports Legislation Introduced in the U.S. Senate

The bill, S. 1298,  not only requires a yearly report on key
performance metrics, but also requires reporting before and during a port labor
negotiation until that negotiation is completed.  This will help inform a
decision as to whether or not a slowdown is occurring and what the impact is on
the ports throughout the negotiation.  S. 1298 creates a new level of
transparency and accountability for ports, many of which are government owned,
by requiring: 

• The director of the
  Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) to establish a port performance
  statistics program and report annually to Congress on the performance and
  capacity of the Nation’s key ports;
• U.S. port authorities
  that are subject to federal regulation or that receive federal assistance
  to report annually to BTS; and
• The Secretary of
  Transportation, in consultation with the Secretaries of Labor and
  Commerce, to report to Congress on a port’s performance before and after
  the expiration of maritime labor agreements to help indicate whether labor
  discussions have impacted operations, the estimated economic impact of
  such disputes and roughly how long it will take for shipments to return to
  normal.

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Committee is reviewing the legislation and reaching out to shippers for advice
and other suggestions to make this legislation more effective.  Senator
Thune’s staff explained they are interested in developing benchmarks for the
first time so that claims by either management or labor can be verified as well
as provide justification for increased infrastructure spending at the
ports.