Combined shipments. More rail availability. A “fast lane” or “green lane” for departing vessels carrying more exports. The International Dairy Foods Association, Port of Los Angeles and CMA CGM have ideas on how to increase US dairy exports through tight supply chains.

The industry group, port and shipping carrier formed the Dairy Export Task Force last week to address issues they say are hampering exports from within the country and through west coast ports.

“Every improvement we make will highlight another obstacle, another thing that we can solve and that we can improve,” said Michael Dykes, president and CEO of IDFA, in an interview with Supply Chain Dive on Tuesday. . “We can take that system-wide.”

Americans’ love of cheese is driving an increase in dairy consumption in the country, Dykes said. But exports account for more than 16% of U.S. dairy business, and supply chain problems are costing companies millions of dollars and damaging exporters’ credibility with global customers, he said.

Delays and average dwell times increased last quarter at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, according to FourKites. Dwell times were 6% and 4% above the 2021 average at destination and loading points, the supply chain visibility platform said. And railroad staffing issues due to the fast-spreading omicron variant added to the labor constraints that were already affecting rail service last quarter.

Port delays and rail limitations, along with limited warehousing space and container availability, mean dairy exporters must airlift more product than ever before – sometimes at 20 times the cost – to meet their contracts, according to the IDFA.

U.S. dairy exporters have been hit hard by supply chain issues and trade policies, Port of Los Angeles executive director Gene Seroka said in a statement. The task force will find “solutions that will benefit not only the dairy industry but all US exporters,” Seroka said.

The group is exploring ways to bundle dairy exports from multiple suppliers to ensure more consolidated and attractive bookings. Amid rail and sea transport congestion, the group wants greater rail availability for non-coastal dairy exporters and a “fast lane” incentive for ships to leave San Pedro Bay full or with fewer empty freight containers.

“From a business perspective, these carriers are looking for the fastest turn they can make at ports, back to reload and refuel,” Dykes said.

The concept? CMA CGM agrees to wait longer at the port to pick up filled containers, dairy exporters agree that filled containers will be ready at the port when the ship arrives, and the Port of Los Angeles dedicates a crew to load exports onto the vessel.

“Obviously if we can make it work there, we can make it work in other ports,” Dykes said. “And I hope you would like to work with other carriers.”

Initial interest from the Port of Los Angeles and CMA CGM led the dairy industry to work with them first, Dykes said. He spoke Monday with Danny W. Wan, executive director of the Port of Oakland, a major agricultural export port, and is reaching out to the Port of Long Beach and other ocean carriers and IDFA members. to join the effort.

Other ideas put forward by the group include more defined agreements for exporters using empty containers languishing in US ports and guarantees to correct and exceed phantom bookings. These happen when exporters book space on multiple ships for the same products, Dykes said. Better data sharing will also help, he said.

The group’s advantage in solving dairy export problems is having “all the right players in the room,” Ed Aldridge, president of CMA CGM and APL North America, said in a statement.

“This collaborative partnership will allow us to rapidly implement innovative solutions designed to not only help the dairy industry meet today’s supply chain challenges, but also pave the way for the future,” said Aldridge.

Stephanie Thomas, associate professor of supply chain management practice at the University of Arkansas, praised efforts to promote better collaboration along dairy supply chains.

“Any time you can improve processes, create efficiencies within processes, that’s a good thing,” Thomas said. “And whenever you can limit the number of empty trips and extra miles and use more efficient modes of transport or more sustainable means, none of that is ever a bad thing.”