I-10 truck backup due to computer glitch at port container facility, officials say – Fox 10 News
MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – For the second day in a row Tuesday , it looked like a truck parade on the off ramp of Interstate 10, with tractor-trailers backed up in both directions.
The cause traces to a computer upgrade at the Port of Mobile’s container facility.
“It’s not related to, you know, any type of, like, a cyberattack or anything like that,” said Brian Harold, managing director of APM Terminals Mobile, which manages the terminal. “It’s not related to excessive volume. It’s specifically related to systems issues that we’re seeing here at the terminal.”
Harold told FOX10 News that a third-party vendor installed a system upgrade in October.
“Since that time, we’ve seen issues – really, just bugs within the system,” he said. “And the last couple of days is probably gonna be the worst that we’ve seen in terms of, you know, the speed with which we can create truck transactions here at the terminal.”
The container operation is an increasingly important and growing part of the port’s overall business. It’s been on a record-setting pace this year.
Harold said the facility has about 900 truck visits a day, with many of those both unloading containers bound for abroad and loading up imports to take to the interior of the United States. They all rely on a partially automated system to keep everything flowing.
“As our vendor has been working to improve it, and as they find things that are wrong, they’ve been making changes and further upgrades to the system,” he said. “And what we’ve seen, unfortunately, is some of those changes have actually caused other issues over the past couple days.”
Harold apologized for any inconvenience this has caused drivers and to delays its caused customers of the terminal. He said the company has extended hours to keep cargo moving. With so many trucks coming and leaving, a delay of even five minutes per truck can cause backups, he said.
“We expect to have this rectified soon,” he said. “But yes, there’s a lot of urgency around getting this fixed.”
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