GCT Bayonne Terminal is gearing up to begin an appointment system for trucks that pick up goods at the port, a move that could help alleviate heavy traffic that has plagued Bayonne since last year.
Early last spring, the New Jersey Turnpike 14A Toll Plaza began a reconstruction program. This, coupled with an ongoing project to raise the roadway of the Bayonne Bridge about 65 feet to allow for larger vessels to pass underneath the span, caused traffic nightmares for local motorists.
Later in the year, an uptick in early-morning truck arrivals at GCT caused additional headaches for morning rush-hour commuters attempting to enter the city via the Newark Bay Turnpike Extension and Route 78.
Adjusting gate opening hours and opening on Saturdays where part of the short-term solutions for alleviating the tie-ups. But backups have persisted, Bayonne commuters and residents say.
Joc.com, a Journal of Commerce affiliate, reported last month that GCT Bayonne planned to launch the Port of New York and New Jersey’s first appointment system for trucks at a terminal, beginning this month.
Initially, appointments will be made only during the first two hours when gates open at 6 a.m., when the truck backup is heaviest, joc.com reported. Rich Ceci, GCT USA vice president of information technology, told the website the appointments would be for two-hour periods, with a grace period of a half hour before and after. Ceci said the program would be adjusted as needed.
Ceci failed to return multiple phone messages left by the Bayonne Community News, and GCT Global Container Terminals spokeswoman Louanne Wong said there was no company representative who could be interviewed for the BCN story.
Truckers may not be on board
Jeff Bader, president and chief executive officer of Golden Carriers, a nonprofit trucking association that represents the intermodal carriers of the Port of New York and New Jersey, said he is not sure the truck appointment system is the answer for GCT, especially if it has not been tested. (Intermodal means the involvement of two or more modes of transportation in conveying goods.)
He said that attempts at truck-appointment systems at other ports are rife with problems and just do not work.
“Systems that are too rigid don’t allow for truckers to adjust as needed when unanticipated conditions arise,” he said, “and systems that are too open-ended result in reduced efficiency – the opposite of what needs to be achieved.”
Bader said that appointment systems put undue pressure on truckers, and that they do not assure that the predicted quicker turn-around times will actually be realized. He also thinks the system should be tested first before being put into motion.
“Systems that are too rigid don’t allow for truckers to adjust as needed when unanticipated conditions arise.’” – Jeff Bader
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But motorists have their fingers crossed
Those who travel to Bayonne each day are still banking on the GCT program to alleviate traffic.
Staten Island resident Steve Teitel, owner of Elbaum’s Food Center on Broadway and Dodge Street, is one of them. He has to take the Goethals Bridge and turnpike when the Bayonne Bridge is closed.
Bayonne attorney and Long Branch resident Len Kiczek is among those with a tough morning commute. Although his Bayonne office is on 8th Street, and he prefers to take the Bayonne Bridge, he is often forced to take the New Jersey Turnpike to get into Bayonne because of the bridge work.
But even with three lanes now open on the Newark Bay bridge, two lanes of traffic are usually backed up trying to get off at Bayonne’s 14A exit. So he thinks the appointment system could make a difference.
“You have to go where you have to go,” said Kiczek, a former Bayonne mayor. “Time is money.”
Joseph Passantino may be reached at JoePass@hudsonreporter.com.