BY MARK B. SOLOMON, SENIOR EDITOR
MARITIME/PORTS
transportationreport
Keeping its head Keeping its head
above water above water
The Port of Long Beach isn’t short on challenges or competitors.
IMAGE COURTESY OF THE PORT OF LONG BEACH
IF VOCAL CADENCE IS EVIDENCE OF A PERSON’S
demeanor, J. Christopher Lytle, executive director of the
giant Port of Long Beach, is a calm customer. Lytle’s even-handed replies to a reporter’s phone queries about his port’s
relevance suggest the temperament of a man not likely to
lose his head even if everyone around him does.
That’s a good thing, because Lytle is running the 102-
year-old port, the nation’s second busiest, at a time of
unprecedented change in North America’s competitive sea-
faring landscape. To the north, the Port of Prince Rupert in
British Columbia has positioned itself as the fastest way to
deliver goods from Asian manufacturing centers to con-
suming markets in the U.S. Midwest and mid-South.
Prince Rupert officials claim that goods arriving there can
reach Chicago three days faster than if they were routed
through Long Beach.
