For the Port of New York and New Jersey, I see no issue with actual service levels for 2024. There is a surplus of longshore labor that was hired to accommodate the COVID-19 cargo spike, which we have been training for future demand. All marine terminal employers in the port have all invested in new equipment expanding their capabilities. Our Port Authority continues to invest in the surrounding infrastructure. The warehouse and chassis capacity has returned. The pendulum has swung, and the industry has had the “breather” it needed to reset itself coming off the pandemic volume spike.
Unfortunately, from a volume perspective, 2024 also has many more questions, local and macro, than we’ve seen in quite some time. The overall consumer demand for goods, an election year, a higher interest rate environment, rainfall in Panama, East Coast labor concerns and growing international conflict. How these play out will determine if 2024 is a boom or bust.
Regardless, we can expect change. To be able to adapt to such a changing environment, a port needs to act quickly and decisively to adjust, as necessary. We have seen and met challenges before and understand the critical role of collaboration amongst the stakeholders to work together when these challenges arise. The lessons learned through the COVID-19 pandemic, our ongoing stakeholder forum, the Council on Port Performance and other sources of collaboration will continue to provide the vehicle for resolving such matters as they arise.