by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
Outside the Jacksonville Port Authority Talleyrand facility, semi-trucks waited in a line three–deep Tuesday morning. The procession advanced haltingly as security guards checked each driver’s identification. Each conversation began with a sheepish apology from the guard: “Sorry for the wait.”
Inside Jaxport’s barbed–wire fences however, the trucks go quickly about their business. Cranes nearly 10 stories tall take barely a minute to pluck 20–ton containers from their flatbeds and hoist them onto waiting ships. An experienced crane operator can move 700 tons daily.
The contrasting scenes illustrate the dilemma facing ports nationwide in an era of worldwide markets and terrorist threats. To be competitive, operators must provide a secure environment that nevertheless allows commerce to flow freely 24 hours a day.
“That’s always the balance,” said Jaxport spokesperson Robert Peek. “Security is always a priority, and we want our customers and the public to know that we do everything we can to make our facilities secure. But you don’t want it so cumbersome that you lose efficiency.”
While security may be the layman’s primary concern, Peek said shippers are most interested in how quickly they can move their cargo through the port.
“They really want to know, ‘How can I move cargo efficiently in and out of the port?” he said.
In the post Sept. 11 climate, increased security is not just a trend, it’s a federal mandate. That wasn’t always the case. Florida set its own stricter guidelines for port security in 2001, six months before the World Trade Center collapsed. At the time, Peek said some of the Jaxport administrators feared tougher security would decrease efficiency, putting Florida ports at a competitive disadvantage with less restricted ports like Charleston, Brunswick and Savannah “There was some concern that tighter controls might make us less efficient at moving cargo in and out,” said Peek.
Greater security also came at a cost. Jaxport has spent about $5.5 million on security enhancements since 1997. Additionally the port spends about $2.8 million of its $27.5 million budget on security. Most of the money pays for personnel, including about three dozen security guards and 12 full–time police officers.
Peek said Florida decided to tighten port security in response to threats of theft and drug trafficking. However, when terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. made security a national priority, Peek said Jaxport found itself with a running start toward compliance with coming federal requirements.
Once a potential competitive disadvantage, Jaxport’s security improvements became a selling point. While out–of–state ports grapple with implementing new security policies, Jaxport can point to infrastructure and procedures already in place.
“We feel like we’re ahead of the curve,” said Peek. “We weren’t caught flat-footed by the federal requirements. There’s not going to be as severe an impact as if it was something that was suddenly mandated.”
The federal requirements are still in development, but Peek said the finished product will resemble Florida’s. Like Florida’s law, Peek said the federal program will likely require all regular port users to undergo background checks, fingerprinting and to carry identification cards.
Peek said 2003 had been a success for Jaxport, both in terms of efficiency and security.
The port emphasized its access to rails and roads and its proximity to markets throughout the Southeast to draw millions in new business last year, he said. As new imports, like wood pulp, came in, a quarter million tons of military equipment went out, pushing last year’s revenues to $31 million, up 12 percent from 2002. Jaxport also trimmed $3 million from its 2002 operation budget, spending $17.3 million in 2003.
Those numbers reflect Jaxport’s most profitable year, but Peek said their effect will be felt throughout Jacksonville’s economy. The port is one of the City’s fundamental financial drivers, bringing in private companies that hire in the thousands. About 8,000 people make their living at Jaxport, including truck drivers, longshoremen and heavy equipment operators.
Jaxport also won the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s endorsement for security. The FDLE announced Monday that it ranked Jaxport as “substantially compliant” with State security requirements. Jaxport was the only large cargo deepwater port in Florida to reach that standard.