Organization and Structure

Industry Snapshot

More than 2.3 billion metric tons of foreign and domestic commerce move through U.S. ports each year. Port and harbor facilities provide employment for companies that load and unload ships, transfer cargo from one mode of transport to another, or provide storage facilities. In the mid-2000s, some 800 U.S. establishments employing more than 65,000 workers participated in marine cargo handling or port and harbor operations. The West Coast ports at Los Angeles and Long Beach were the busiest ports by revenue heading into the late 2000s, serving as the gateway for more than 40 percent of U.S. containerized imports. However, growth on the West Coast had flattened while East Coast ports were gaining late in the decade.

Ports on the U.S. West, East, and Gulf coasts include both public facilities governed by port authorities and privately held terminals. Companies employ stevedores or longshoremen to load and unload break-bulk, bulk, or container ships. The West Coast trade has represented about 50 percent of the total containerized waterborne trade in the United States, supported by high-growth markets in the Asia-Pacific region in the early to mid-2000s.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2008, a total of 532 marine cargo handling operations employed 63,736 workers who earned wages of more than $3.2 billion. Additionally, there were 268 port and harbor operations employing 5,608 workers who earned wages of nearly $283 million in 2008. Of both industry sectors, the majority of operations in descending order were located in California, Florida, Texas, and Louisiana.

Throughout the late 2000s, imported cargo shipments plummeted from a high of 16.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2007 down to 12.7 million TEUs in 2009, well below the 15.2 million TEUs reported in 2008 as the economy slipped into a deep recession.

Organization and Structure

Port authorities were created from the 1920s to the 1950s, when port cities realized the economic impact that shipping had not only on their cities but also the on general public. During that 30-year period, large amounts of public funds were spent to repair and replace cargo and port facilities. By the start of the 1990s, many were found to be in poor financial shape. Only 33 percent of the ports on the North Atlantic coastline showed a profit before tax support, and only the Pacific ports--especially those in Southern California--consistently reported profits prior to subsidy. Privatization of the industry has been contemplated by several port authorities, particularly in Washington, but most of the industry remained in the hands of private sector interests.

Companies that handle cargo at the ports, generally referred to as terminal operators, provide a variety of services to incoming and outgoing shippers. Usually these include loading and unloading ships, transferring cargo from one mode of transport to another, and storing cargo. Employees of marine cargo handling companies that actually perform the loading and unloading are called stevedores or longshoremen. Many employees belong to one of two unions, the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) or the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).

On the shipping end of the industry, the Pacific Maritime Association represented more than 70 stevedore companies, terminal operators, and shipping lines on the West Coast as of 2008. The American Shippers Association reported roughly 700 members in recent years. These associations provide a unified front for negotiating favorable rates and services, promoting fair competition, and bargaining with the longshoremen's unions.

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