Pathways to Progress: APM Terminals Pier 400’s ‘All the Way to Zero’ Box Move

The video below — Pathways to Progress — highlights APM Terminals Pier 400's ambitious initiative to pilot a near-zero emissions carbon footprint in container transportation from China to Southern California. The ambition became a possibility on the occasion of the maiden voyage of the Alette Maersk in August 2024.

What would it take to move a container all the way from a warehouse in China to a warehouse here in Southern California in our backyard with a near zero emissions carbon footprint? So, in August we decided to do just that.

With advanced planning and coordination, the Pier 400 team orchestrated the movement of a container across the Pacific Ocean on the methanol-enabled vessel, the Alette Maersk, to the Port of Los Angeles. The container was then passed through the heart of Pier 400, one of the western hemisphere’s largest terminals, using modified Kalmar electric container handling equipment. Finally, it traveled through the streets of Los Angeles via a Performance Team class 8 EV truck for the last leg of delivery to a local warehouse.

The sailing of the Alette Maersk across the Pacific was historic, because it was Maersk’s first methanol-enabled container vessel to make that journey, but it was also the world's first methanol-enabled container vessel to call upon any port in the Americas.

Your solution doesn't have to be perfect, you just have to start. Then from that starting position, you can continue to refine and change, adapt and be agile in your approach.