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Trucks get help with port snarls
By Business Writer
A San Ramon company launched a service Monday to help trucking companies coordinate routes and cut
traffic jams at the Port of Oakland.
During busy times, truckers typically wait two hours to return or pick up an empty container at the port.
SynchroNet Marine's SynchroMet service lets trucking companies interchange containers through one Internet site,
www.synchromet.com, increasing productivity and trimming waits at terminal gates.
For example, a trucker in Tracy could go to Stockton to pick up an empty container, get it filled and go to the Port of Oakland, saving a
trip to Oakland to get an empty container.
SynchroMet's monthly subscription fee is $40 for companies operating 1 to 20 trucks and $80 for companies operating more than 20 trucks.
Each match can save an hour, so the service pays for itself with one or two matches, said Bill Aboudi, president of AB Trucking in Oakland.
"It definitely will reduce congestion big time if everybody gets behind it," said Aboudi, whose 40-truck company was one of three firms to
test SynchroMet.
For years, Aboudi has used the telephone or fax to exchange containers with other companies. But he has been able to reach only 15 firms
at a time out of more than 800 trucking companies that service the Port of Oakland.
"Now, you're able to reach everybody who signs up," Aboudi said.
Port officials support the project. "SynchroMet will provide trucking companies and shipping lines with a real-time communication
tool and technology platform that can help to reduce road congestion in the port and surrounding Bay community," Executive Director Tay Yoshitani stated.
The service not only reduces waiting times and wear and tear on trucks, it also reduces diesel emissions, SynchroNet spokesman Stephen Banbury said.
SynchroNet, a 35-employee private company founded in 1996, plans to introduce Phase 2 of SynchroMet in a month, enabling shipping lines
to interchange equipment internationally.
"Carriers spend such a lot of money on positioning empty boxes, even if you tackle a small percentage, you can look at savings of millions
of dollars," Banbury said.
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