by Tom Price

A seaport 75 miles from the ocean might have a hard time finding customers, but not the Port of Stockton. In fact, ocean-going trade has boomed in the last few years, and recent improvements mean the growth can continue.

“We finally got some dredging, and that was key to our expansion,” longshore Local 54 President Dennis Brueckner said. “We’re getting a lot more general cargo and more shipping companies are looking at us now because we have deeper water.”

The dredging came about through vigorous lobbying and the efforts of Local 54, the Port, shippers and farmers in keeping Stockton a busy port on the San Joaquin Delta waterway. As the U.S. economy grows, more imports will flow in, and agricultural exports will grow as well.

The Stockton Ship Channel has an average depth of 37 feet at low tide and an average depth at high tide of 40 feet, according to the Port. It can accommodate vessels in the 45,000 to 55,000 ton class. Some ships as large as 60,000 tons can use the channel fully loaded. Vessels up to 80,000 tons use the channel partially loaded.

The Port has berthing space for 17 vessels, 1.1 million square feet of dockside transit sheds and 7.7 million square feet of warehousing for both dry bulk and general cargoes, including steel. Each warehouse has rail service.

These numbers will change as the port grows. Between 2004 and 2005, tonnage in and out increased by 51.6 percent and total vessel calls were up 13.7 percent. Barge traffic grew by 83.3 percent. Cement remained the largest import commodity, up 50 percent in the year with a total volume of 1,790,731 metric tons, according to the Port. Steel imports increased from zero in 2003 to 67,212 tons in 2005.

Bagged rice remains Stockton’s most valuable export commodity, with 196,486 tons shipped in 2005, mostly to Japan and New Guinea.

The port had positioned itself for expansion by taking over the U.S. Navy’s former base at Rough and Ready Island in 2000, adding 1,400 acres. Brueckner had helped lobby Sen. Diane Feinstein, (D-CA), to get the Navy to dredge the channel. The port approved three new leases Aug. 14, adding 175 new jobs to the island. Next year a new road will link the island to State Highway 4 to the south.

The port actively seeks tenants. It recently signed a lease with American Biodiesel Inc. to construct a biodiesel plant at the port. Operating as Community Fuels, it will develop a multi-acre site with 40,000 square feet of warehouse space and will eventually pump 10 million gallons of fuel annually.

Stockton’s geographical position on the landward side links ocean shipping to major interstate highways, two trans-continental railroads and one of the world’s largest agricultural areas.

This means more work for Local 54 and more work for other union workers as well. Local 54 currently has 54 A registered workers, 22 B registrants and 60 C registrants. Five new B registrants came on in July and another five will be registered B in August. Local 54 would like the employers to allow more registration, Brueckner said.

“We are getting more shifts, we have casuals who already have qualified years, that’s tell-tale right there,” Brueckner said. “We have people coming from the Bay Area [longshore locals] to work here, that’s how much work we’ve had.”