II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1298 

To provide nationally consistent measures of performance of the Nation’s 

ports, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 12, 2015 

Mr. THUNE (for himself, Mrs. FISCHER, Mr. GARDNER, and Mr. ALEXANDER) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To provide nationally consistent measures of performance 

of the Nation’s ports, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. PORT PERFORMANCE FREIGHT STATISTICS 

4 PROGRAM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 63 of title 49, United 

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘§ 6314. Port performance freight statistics program 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish, on 

10 behalf of the Secretary, a port performance statistics proVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:11 May 15, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1298.IS S1298

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1 gram to provide nationally consistent measures of per2 formance of the Nation’s top 25 ports by tonnage, top 25 

3 ports by 20-foot equivalent unit, and top 25 ports by dry 

4 bulk. 

5 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) PORT CAPACITY AND THROUGHPUT.—Not 

7 later than January 15 of each year, the Director 

8 shall submit an annual report to Congress that in9 cludes statistics on capacity and throughput at these 

10 ports. 

11 ‘‘(2) PORT PERFORMANCE INDICATORS.—The 

12 Director shall require each United States port au13 thority referred to in subsection (a) that receives 

14 Federal assistance or is subject to Federal regula15 tion to submit an annual report to the Bureau of 

16 Transportation Statistics that includes statistics on 

17 capacity and throughput, including— 

18 ‘‘(A) the volume of inbound and outbound 

19 cargo to include containers, break bulk, vehi20 cles, and dry and liquid bulk; 

21 ‘‘(B) the average number of lifts per hour 

22 of containers by crane; 

23 ‘‘(C) the average vessel unload rate; 

24 ‘‘(D) the average vessel load rate; 

25 ‘‘(E) the average vessel turn time; 


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1 ‘‘(F) port transit time; 

2 ‘‘(G) the average cargo dwell time; 

3 ‘‘(H) the average container dwell time; 

4 ‘‘(I) port storage capacity and utilization; 

5 ‘‘(J) the average wait time for trucks in6 side a port complex; 

7 ‘‘(K) the average truck time at ports; and 

8 ‘‘(L) the average rail delay at ports. 

9 ‘‘(c) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Director shall obtain 

10 recommendations for specifications for port performance 

11 measures, to identify standard data elements for meas12 uring port performance, from— 

13 ‘‘(1) operating administrations of the Depart14 ment of Transportation; 

15 ‘‘(2) the Coast Guard; 

16 ‘‘(3) the Maritime Administration; 

17 ‘‘(4) the Marine Transportation System Na18 tional Advisory Council; 

19 ‘‘(5) the Army Corps of Engineers; 

20 ‘‘(6) the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development 

21 Corporation; and 

22 ‘‘(7) the Advisory Committee on Supply Chain 

23 Competitiveness. 

24 ‘‘(d) ACCESS TO DATA.—The Director shall ensure 

25 that the statistics compiled under this section are readily 


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1 accessible to the public, consistent with applicable security 

2 constraints and confidentiality interests.’’. 

3 (b) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN DISCLOSURES.—Sec4 tion 6307(b)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is amend5 ed by inserting ‘‘or section 6314(b)’’ after ‘‘section 

6 6302(b)(3)(B)’’ each place it appears. 

7 (c) COPIES OF REPORTS.—Section 6307(b)(2)(A) of 

8 title 49, United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘or 

9 section 6314(b)’’ after ‘‘section 6302(b)(3)(B)’’. 

10 (d) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

11 The table of sections for chapter 63 of title 49, United 

12 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol13 lowing: 

‘‘6314. Port performance freight statistics program.’’. 

14 SEC. 2. MONTHLY REPORTS ON PERFORMANCE AT UNITED 

15 STATES PORTS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year before the 

17 expiration date of a maritime labor agreement for a 

18 United States port, 3 months before the expiration date 

19 of the maritime labor agreement, and monthly thereafter, 

20 the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the 

21 Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Labor, shall 

22 submit a report to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

23 and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 

24 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Rep25 resentatives that includes port performance indicators at 


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1 the affected port. If multiple ports are affected by the ex2 piration of the maritime labor agreement, the Secretary 

3 of Transportation shall submit a report for each affected 

4 port. 

5 (b) CONTENTS.—Each report required under sub6 section (a) shall include, for the affected port during the 

7 previous month— 

8 (1) the performance indicators listed under sec9 tion 6314(b)(2) of title 49, United States Code; 

10 (2) the number and type of vessels awaiting 

11 berthing, including average wait time; 

12 (3) the number of cancelled vessel calls; 

13 (4) an estimate of the economic impact associ14 ated with any delays both at the port and across the 

15 national economy; and 

16 (5) an estimate of the amount of time required 

17 to clear any congestion. 

18 (c) EFFECTIVE PERIOD.—The Secretary of Trans19 portation, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce 

20 and the Secretary of Labor, shall submit a report required 

21 under subsection (a) for an affected port until the date 

22 that a new maritime labor agreement for the port is 

23 agreed to by all of the parties to that maritime labor 

24 agreement. 


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1 (d) DEFINITION OF MARITIME LABOR AGREE2 MENT.—In this section, the term ‘‘maritime labor agree3 ment’’ has the meaning given such term in section 40102 

4 of title 46, United States Code. 

Æ 


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