Hawaiian containers now moving door-to-door.

Ten thousand shipping containers a year will now be delivered door-to-door to military customers in Hawaii.

The change in the distribution process, which began April 1, followed successful test shipments and negotiations by the Surface Deployment and Distribution Command with ocean carriers Matson Navigation and Horizon Lines.

The ocean carriers agreed to expand their service to include container drayage and to provide door-to-door service.

"Historically, Hawaii was a 'port-to-port' trade that required separate arrangements for the drayage of military containers to-and-from ocean carrier terminals in Honolulu," said Gordon Lowe, chief, 599th Transportation Group's Universal Service Contract Management Office in the Pacific.

"This proved to be a fragmented and problematic process that inhibited the efficient movement of military cargo."

Normally, full containers are delivered and empty containers are returned in the same movement. In the past, this was not always the case.

"The rate that containers were being picked up did not keep up with the number of new containers being delivered," said Jason Rakestraw, distribution area manager, Army and Air Force Exchange Service, in Hawaii. "As a result, we sometimes encountered a pileup of empty containers sitting in the yard, which impeded delivery of additional goods."

The contract enhancements were requested by Col. Tom Harvey, commander, 599th Transportation Group.

"There was an urgent need to unclog the distribution pipeline for containers being shipped to our military customers in Hawaii," said Harvey. "We can't afford to put up with poor container management that often results in wasteful detention fees and lesser service to our customers."

Under the new arrangement, Matson Navigation and Horizon Lines subcontracts the trucking company that will deliver the containers from the port to the customer. A customer, such as the Navy Exchange, will deal directly with the ocean carriers by accessing an automated system owned by the Navy's Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Pearl Harbor.

The Web-based technology, known as the Container Routing Information System, provides distribution managers timely container information.

"Being hooked up to the system enables us to log in and identify the status of all the containers for the Army and Air Force Exchange Service," said Rakestraw.

"We can identify which containers are empty or full, which are sitting, and which are in use or not being used," he said. "The information helps us to improve scheduling for deliveries, pickups and promotes timely in-and-out movement of containers."

Ocean carriers are enthusiastic about the shift in responsibilities from the Navy at Pearl Harbor.

"This provides us the opportunity to gain better control of the movement of our containers and our equipment," said Charlie Battiato, Horizon Lines' strategic account director.

Battiato's counterpart at Matson Navigation Co. is in total agreement.

"Under the old arrangement, we had no visibility of our containers once they left the pier," said Vic Angoco, manager of container operations.

"With door-to-door service, we can use our containers and chassis more efficiently," said Angoco. "It doesn't make much sense to have our containers sitting empty in the customer's yard. Now, with increased visibility, if I do see it (containers) empty, I can arrange for pickup and make more efficient use of the equipment."