From Harbor Commissioner To Global Regulator: Lessons From Mario Cordero, CEO, Port of Long Beach

Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Ready to go.

SPEAKER_01 (00:09):
You're listening to by land and by sea, powered by
is a maritime professor.
Some conversations feel likehistory being recorded in real
time.
And today's episode is one ofthose.
This week we're talking withsomeone whose leadership has
attached to nearly every cornerof the modern supply chain.

(00:30):
And as the port of Long Beachmoves into a new chapter, this
conversation becomes even moremeaningful.
Hi, welcome back to My Land andVicy, an attorney breaking down
the weekend supply chain,presented by the Maritime
Professor.
Me, I'm Lauren Vegan, thefounder of the Maritime
Professor, former FMCInternational Affairs Attorney
and the founder of SupportStrategies.
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(00:52):
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So let's get into it because asyou know, ocean shipping moves
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(01:13):
Well, today's episode is aspecial one.
I had the chance to sit down fora personal thoughtful
conversation with Mario Cordero,who's the EO of the Board of
Long Beach, former chairman ofthe Federal Maritime Commission,
and someone I had the privilegeof working with more than a
decade ago at the FMC.
And now this interview wasactually recorded just before

(01:34):
some very new, very big newsbroke.
Dr.
Noel Hasagaba has been announcedas the next CEO of the Board of
Long Beach.
And so you'll hear thisconversation with Mario at the
moment.
He was preparing for retirementat the end of this month, but
before the announcement of hisassessor, but became public.
Now that timing actually makesthis conversation perhaps even
more professional, because whatyou're about to hear is Mario

(01:54):
reflecting openly, humbly, andcandidly on a career that's
advanced local governance,federal regulatory leadership,
global collaboration, and theoperational heart of one of the
busiest boards in the nation.
During this conversation, wetalked about how he first found
his way into maritime, his yearson the Long Beach Harbor
Commission beginning in 2003,his FMC appointment in 2011, and

(02:18):
his chairmanship beginningshortly after that in 2013.
The 2015 congestion report, Ioften talk about it, Sam
Ricagliano talks about it, wetalk about it together when we
talk on each other's shows, andhow that report became
unexpectedly prophetic.
Like a prophecy, I should sayprophetic B R O P H E T I Z.

(02:39):
The US EU-China regulatorydialogues and leading Long Beach
those apply chains and ourtiers.
And also a little bit about whathe hopes the next generation of
maritime leaders will carryforward.
This conversation felt personalfor me, not just as a maritime
attorney, but as someone whoworked under Mario's leadership
and has long admired hisapproach.

(02:59):
I'm grateful he shared this timewith me, and I'm grateful to
share it with you now.
So with that, let's get into it.
Here's my conversation withMario Cordero.
Today I'm joined by MarioCordero, a Los Angeles native
and the first in his family toattend college.
He earned his bachelor's degreein political science from
California State University,Long Beach, and his law degree

(03:19):
from Santa Clara UniversitySchool of Law.
His father encouraged him topursue engineering, but Mario
followed his path to law, adecision that would ultimately
lead into public service rolesthat really helped shape some
modern U.S.
maritime policy.
He served on the Long BeachBoard of Harbor Commissioners
beginning in 2003, a role thatgrounded him deeply in port

(03:40):
community needs and earlyenvironmental leadership.
In 2011, he was appointed to theFederal Maritime Commission.
That's where I know him from.
And by 2013, he became itschairman, did a fantastic job,
guiding the agency throughindustry consolidation, alliance
restructuring, early congestionchallenges, and the development
of a 2015 congestion report thatSam Rogliano and I often

(04:03):
referenced, but didn't get a lotof fanfare at the time.
That would become a truetouchstone years later.
In 2017, he returned home toserve as executive director of
the port of Long Beach, where heled the port or continues to
lead the port throughunprecedented cargo surges and
global pandemic and ambitiousenvironmental and modernization.
And just recently he announcedhis retirement from that role at

(04:26):
the end of the year, marking theclose of a remarkable chapter in
port leadership.
Mario, thank you so much.
I'm really grateful to have youhere today.
Thank you for joining me.

SPEAKER_00 (04:36):
Thank you, Lord, and thank you so much for this kind
invitation.

SPEAKER_01 (04:39):
It's so wonderful to have you on the show.
And really to get a chance tosit down and just chat through
the years of your fantasticexperience and your wonderful
leadership.
You know, before we jump intothe incredible accolades that
you have, you really do.
I'd love to hear a little bitmore about how you started.
And actually, despite all theyears now that I've known you, I
don't think I've ever actuallyfound out how you found yourself

(05:02):
in maritime.
I believe it was your father,like I said, who encouraged you
to go into engineering.
Is that right?
But you chose law school.
Talk to me a little bit moreabout those early years.
And then as your careerdeveloped, how did you find
yourself in the maritime world?
You taught for years, but Idon't think it was maritime.
How did it come onto your radar?

SPEAKER_00 (05:18):
Well, Lauren, as you stated, uh when I was in high
school, I was a math major.
Uh, my father had encouraged meto go into engineering.
My father was a laborer at asmall aircraft company here in
Los Angeles.
And hence the only professionalshe ever ran into were engineers.
So he wanted to make sure hissons would go to work with a, as

(05:38):
he would say, a shirt and tie sothey could work with their brain
and not with their hands.
And you know, by the but what Imeant when, you know, my father,
you know, he did intense laborand then later on, of course,
became a superintendent orinforman.
But you know, he wanted his kidsto be educated in a profession.
As a after I graduated fromGardena High, where I was uh

(06:01):
going to attend Cal State LongBeach University in the
engineering program, that summerI changed my law my my major to
pre-law political science.
So by occupation, I've been anattorney for all these years.
And to your second part of thequestion, in 2003, a local
legislator approached me to askwhether I was had an interest in

(06:25):
being appointed to the HarborCommission, a very prestigious
group, particularly in thosedays where it was like the who's
who got appointed, so to speak.
And so I submitted myapplication, and the then mayor,
Beverly O'Neill, appointed me tothe Harbor Commission.
And at that point, I becameimmersed with this maritime

(06:46):
curriculum endeavor study.
And I think it was a fabulousexperience for me as a
commissioner because I becamevery interested in the whole
issue of international trade,goods movement, maritime port
authorities, and you name it.
So that's how I started.

SPEAKER_01 (07:03):
Oh, that's so interesting.
You know, and that's so I I feellike I'm learning more about you
now.
That that saying that you were amath major for a while, I feel
like that kind of matches up tome and and how I've seen you
think and how I've seen youapproach problems is you do it
in a systemic way and and kindof in a methodical way.
But then also you're you're veryinto poetry, if I recall, right?
You used to go to poets andpirates, I think, in in DC.

(07:25):
But it I that it just kind ofpairing up in my head that you
you approach thingsmethodically, but then you also
have this finesse to to yourdecision making.
And I it like I said, this isstarting to make a little bit
more sense to me.
Well, that's great.
So so then you were with theHarbor Commission.
You know, when once you were inthat seat, I mean, that was your
really your first chapter inmaritime.

(07:48):
What did it teach you?
Obviously, it was drinking froma fire hose, but what did it
teach you about ports, people,and kind of the responsibility
of serving that gateway thatthat really kind of is the
lifeblood for not only theregion but the country?

SPEAKER_00 (08:00):
Well, it's ironic that it that my wife and I have
lived in Long Beach for manyyears.
She's born and raised in LongBeach.
And in up until the time I gotappointed in 2003 to the Harbor
Commission, I knew nothing aboutthe port of Long Beach.
I had never visited the Port ofLong Beach, to be honest with
you.
So I think uh once I gotappointed, not only did I really

(08:23):
uh became a student of themaritime ministry, but also what
I believe port authoritiesneeded to do in this particular
case as a public port, you know,we needed to really uh involve
ourselves with the issues of thelocal community, more
particularly, more specifically,the environmental question.

(08:45):
And I remember interviewing bythe local newspaper when I got
appointed.
And the the the first question Iwas asked is by this rather
conservative publication at thetime, Long Beach Press Telegram.
They asked me as a lawyer a veryintriguing question.
And they asked, Do you have anymaritime law experience?

(09:08):
And I answered the question andI said, Well, name me the last
commissioner that did.
And of course, they didn't knowthe answer.
There there really hadn't been aattorney from the maritime field
other than in the early 70s,there was one.
But all the commissioners thathave served on the Long Beach uh
Board of Harbor Commissionersgoing back to the inception of

(09:29):
1914, the birth of the Port ofLong Beach 2011, there had never
been a maritime attorney otherthan one person in the early
70s.
And then the second question waswhat do you what's your agenda?
And I said, I think for theport, we need to make sure that
the benefits of the port, theeconomic engine, have to be

(09:52):
shared with the many as opposedto the few.
And what I meant by that was weneeded to get engaged in the
community, you know, starttalking about environmental
sustainability development.
How do we give back to thecommunity?
And that's the story.
And I think that's eventuallybecame the Greenport policy that
was inaugurated or formallyannounced in January of 2005,

(10:15):
and then the rest is historyabout what we've been able to do
as a port of Long Beach.
That is grow commercially andalso reduce substantially the
harmful emissions from portoperations.

SPEAKER_01 (10:26):
Yeah, you know, and and it's it was so important.
I think I've seen those tenantsactually follow through,
especially during your time atthe FMC.
You were very involved in, well,let's talk more about
environment and how that can bepart of the larger conversation
for this global ocean shippingworld.
But then also community, right?
As you were partnering withdifferent entities that we had

(10:48):
stakeholders, whether it was youwere visiting ports or you were
actually visiting counterpartsfor various countries, I
remember that that you like toimmerse yourself in the
community that you were a partof, right?
Oftentimes kind of walkinginstead of taking an Uber.
So that way you could get alittle bit more of a sense of
where you were, which I I reallyappreciated because often you
kind of fly in, fly out right ofthese cities.

(11:09):
And you really always had thissense of, you know, I want to
know the world a little bitmore.
I want to know where I am.
And so, you know, often as theinternational affairs attorney,
I prepped you for some of thoseinternational trips.
And so I would make walking mapsas well, I remember, when you
were out there just to make surethat, you know, you could you
could have that option as well.
So I that's that's so importantand and so telling.

(11:31):
I uh it it's like I said, it'sall kind of matching up here.
So my next question was kind ofalong those same lines, when you
moved from the Harbor Commissionto the Federal Maritime
Commission, what were some ofthose perspectives that you
carried with you?
I mean, that was kind of aunique thing.
We often had commissioners thatwere coming with some maritime
experience, but it really wasn'tkind of one of the core tenets

(11:52):
of being a commissioner.
I feel nowadays we are seeingmore maritime-focused or
maritime-based experience cominginto the commission.
And I shouldn't say that therewasn't, because there certainly
was uh, you know, Elaine Chow,Paul Anderson, every there were
there was quite a bit of supplychain experience.
But you came with this portexperience and and port
experience from a harborcommission perspective.

(12:12):
What did you quickly learntranslated well?
What were some of those tenantsthat helped you?
But then what did you quicklylearn wasn't so translatable
between local and federal?

SPEAKER_00 (12:24):
Well, the the time I spent in Washington was very
educational to me.
And Lauren, I I will say that uhlike the situation at the Portal
Long Beach when I was acommissioner and currently as
the CEO, the FMC, I was alwayssurrounded by great staff,
wonderful staff, you included,who had that expertise and uh

(12:45):
and and uh made me look good, Iwill say that.
So I think the Washingtonexperience really pointed to one
one area that I was reallyimpressed, and that is the great
history of the Federal MaritimeCommission.
However, not very many peopleknew or were aware of the FMC.

(13:08):
So, and the the mission of theFMC, of course, is to foster
fair and efficient uh movementof international cargo in our
domestic arena here.
And so I then became a studentof how that domestic goods
movement moves and what theinterests are, not only to a
port authority, but to all thestakeholders, and more

(13:29):
importantly, the economic enginefor the nation of goods
movement.
So as you may recall, then ofcourse there were many issues
that uh I learned about there atthe FMC that really got more
into this specific stakeholders,the carriers, the freight
porters, the third-partyvendors.
And so I think again, thatexperience was valuable for me

(13:53):
in terms of adding on to myexperience as a commissioner at
the Port of Long Beach in thepreceding eight years.

SPEAKER_01 (14:01):
You know, one thing too, uh you just mentioned it,
but that was one thing thatreally stuck out when you were
the FMC chairman was you alwaysrepeated the mission.
You know, I I think even theemployees coming into the FMC
were learning about the FMC asthey were doing employee
onboarding and training, right?
It wasn't it it certainlypre-COVID wasn't an agency that
you had anybody really had muchexperience with.

(14:23):
And if you did know about it,you were probably an NVOCC,
right?
Or some sort of freightforwarder.
But but if you were just kind ofgeneral maritime, you you really
didn't know much.
And even supply chain.
I remember we used to get callsfrom some of these larger VCOs
and shippers, and we how did youeven find us?
How did you know this was anagency?
But but that was one thing thatyou always did was whenever you

(14:43):
did a presentation or a remarks,you always said the mission over
and over again.
Enough that now I can evenrepeat it in my sleep.
I say it often, right?
That for the benefit of the USimporter, exporter, and consumer
was kind of that key tenant ofthis is what we're doing, this
is why we're doing it, this iswho we're doing it for, and this
is kind of what we have to keepin mind as we build these, as we

(15:07):
we research and build, right?
I mean, the the FMC is equalparts lawyers and economists,
they often say, right?
But it's so important to saythat we had so many and still
continue to have so manyeconomists there that it is a
competition authority.
It is kind of an economic enginemonitor as much as it is a
regulatory arm.
So you saw the industry fromthis 30,000 feet at the FMC.

(15:30):
Now, what's something that youunderstood at that level about
carriers, ports, or even thesupply chain generally that
people on the outside rarelyappreciate, both at the FMC but
also for the industry?

SPEAKER_00 (15:43):
Well, one of the things that come to mind is
really understanding the wholestructure of the contract issue
between the carriers, theshippers, and and those
relationships and how thattranslates to what ports they
they call on.

(16:04):
So at the end of the day, Ithink that relationship between
the beneficial cargo owner andthe carriers is a obviously a
business relationship, but it'sone that uh you understand the
concern of both parties, that isthe financial ledger of what
that means to both parties andthe contractual arrangement.

(16:27):
And that's the key relationshipthat ultimately then lends
itself to this containermovement in the USA.
So for a port authority, quitefrankly, they they have really
no role in terms of how you area player in that decision, uh,
other than, of course, as aport, all you can do is provide

(16:50):
the best service and the bestinfrastructure so that these
decision makers then decide atwhat port they're gonna call or
terminal for that matter.
So it was very interesting thatI had the the benefit of
meeting, as you are aware,Lauren, all the top CEOs that
came to DC to meet with me,whether from the carry industry

(17:14):
or the BCO industry.
And of course, this was alsoduring the alliance uh period in
which we were we the F and Cwere going to ascertain these
applications or entertain adiscussion on the uh carrier
applications for the alliancestructure that commenced in
2013.
The first of one, which was youmay recall the P3 Alliance.

(17:38):
And then I was there from thatone into the last one that was
filed in late 2016 with theOcean Alliance.
Or was it yeah, the OceanAlliance was I think with the
last one.
But in that regard, it was avaluable experience to be a
chairman at that point becauseyou really were able to

(17:58):
understand the perspectives fromthe top levels of those
stakeholders.

SPEAKER_01 (18:04):
You were there from such an interesting time period,
and and you and I actuallyaligned.
I didn't realize that we were soprecisely aligned.
I think you had gotten therejust before me, because I got
there just early 2012, and Ithink you got there 2011, and
then we both left in in 2017.
And and it was such a wild time,like like you're saying, that to
be at the FMC, to be at thisindependent regulatory agency

(18:26):
that not many knew what theydid, but on the other hand, was
responsible for all of thesequestions.
And they were, you know, the thecarriers were moving around, and
and we had just gone through thehands in bankruptcy was around
that time too.
So that was part of it.
We had the ocean carriers werewere starting to make these
vessel sharing agreements,right?

(18:48):
These ocean alliances, theselarger alliances.
And so, you know, was therecompetition considerations?
Was there was this monopolisticor was this just operational in
a vessel sharing capacity?
I mean, some of those decisionswere were the decisions that you
had to lead, you know, thisfive-person or at I think
actually we you were four peopleat one point of agency through.

(19:10):
So, you know, that was it wassuch a a great time for
leadership to really be shown.
When you were put into thosepositions, what were some of
those guardrails or principlesthat helped you stay grounded in
those conversations to keep thecommission focused?
You know, I know that you alwayshad that mission handy, right?

(19:30):
When you, whenever you weretalking, you made sure to
mention the mission.
Was that one of the guardrails?
Were there other principles thatyou included?

SPEAKER_00 (19:37):
Yeah, I think you mentioned one of them.
In other words, keep focused onwhat our mission was and our
objectives.
I think uh one that's helped meall along in my career,
including in my currentposition, is the the concept of
uh equanimity.
In other words, you have to stayin calm and collective.
And I've always I've always saidthat uh the greater tests of

(19:59):
that ability.
Is when you're in Washington,D.C.
Because as you know, politicsenters into the agencies every
day there in Washington.
And at the commission level, asyou know, uh I we have uh fair
representation from bothparties.
And sometimes we differ withregard to our interpretation of
whether it's section 6G or othersections of the uh of the of the

(20:23):
regulations.
But I think to your question,one of the things that I learned
is you have to listen and youhave to be pragmatic and respect
the views of your opposition.
And I remember two things in inthat in that scenario.
One was if you if you recall thecongestion report that we issued

(20:48):
in 2015, I I decided that we,the FNC, we needed to travel
across the country to holdhearings on the issue of
congestion.
And I had two colleagues on thecommission who didn't think that
was what we should be doing.
In fact, I had people at thestaff level because we had never

(21:10):
done that before.
And you know, my my mindset hasbeen just because you've never
done it before doesn't mean youcan't do it.
And there was one commissionerthat was pretty pretty verbal on
his opinion of of that of thatuh step that we were going to

(21:30):
take and that we did take.
And but I have to say that afterwe did that, that one
commissioner came to me afterall said and done and said, you
know what, that was one of thebest things we ever did as the F
and C.
The second was the allianceduring the alliance discussions,
if you remember, I decided thatwe needed to have uh

(21:51):
international conversation withour two regulatory organizations
in in in the global arena.
That is the EU and the ChineseTransport Administry.
So we invited both of the uhrepresentatives from both those
regulatory agencies toWashington in my office.
And we had the first globalregulatory summit that we've

(22:14):
ever had.
And then we during the followingyears it it continued.
The EU hosted one, and then onewas hosted in China.
So I think those two areas areones that, again, I I'm very
proud to say that I think ittook outside the box thinking at
the F and C.
And now as we look back,obviously they were very

(22:35):
apropos.
We're still studying theseissues of the alliance
structure.
We're still studying issues ofcongestion and bottlenecks.
Now, fortunately on the WestCoast, we have moved historic
volumes here at the San PedroBay complex in the last two
years without bottlenecks andcongestions.
But I think again, a lot of mythinking goes back to my six

(22:58):
years in Washington.
And last, I'll say this,including the fact of how
important the San Pedro Baycomplex is to this global
movement of containers, and howimportant it is for these two
port authorities, for Lomingtonfor Los Angeles, to be as much
as possible lockstep in terms ofwhat we need to do to remain a

(23:20):
very competitive gateway and agateway of choice in this global
movement of containerized cargo.

SPEAKER_01 (23:29):
Yeah, I'm so glad that you brought up the global
regulatory summit.
That was one thing that I wantedto mention too, because it
really was and continues to besuch a novel idea that was
hiding in plain sight, right?
It was one of those things like,what do you mean?
That the European DirectorGeneral for Competition and the
China Ministry of Transport,there isn't an open dialogue or

(23:49):
there isn't an opportunity forthis conversation.
There were concerns, I rememberat the time of, well, well, how
much can you talk to each other?
You can't decide this as agroup, but there was no real
reason why you couldn't either.
So one of the things that Iremember you said at the time of
creating this idea of thisglobal regulatory summit was,
why don't we just kind of talkabout things we're we're

(24:10):
concerned about on generalsense, right?
Of course, P3 was the issue ofthe day, but instead it turned
into, well, these are probablygoing to keep coming.
What are some things that we aregoing to be concerned about?
Because at the time, andcertainly still continues today,
if any one of those agencies hadsaid no, the idea was gone,

(24:31):
right?
I mean, for the most part,right?
If if we had any sort of denialof this alliance structure, if
you were one of the majorplayers, which those were the
top three, and a wonderfulinsight to make sure that you
included the largest regulatorsin in the space, it would have
kind of killed the idea rightthen and there.
And I know that we get a lot ofthere's there's a lot of

(24:53):
stakeholder and kind of publicperception of what alliances are
and what they aren't.
And as you know, one thing thatthey aren't is they aren't
monopolies.
They do still compete with eachother inside the alliances.
They really are this vesselsharing.
And I often kind of associate itwith, you know, you could take
Southwest Air and you could flyfrom Boston to Denver, but you

(25:13):
have to stop over in KansasCity.
You don't want to go to KansasCity, but that's what the route
is, right?
Versus Delta, same flight,Boston to Denver.
You go directly there and you'reon Eagle Air.
You book through Delta, that wasyour platform, that's where your
points are, but you go directlyto Denver because they have an
aircraft sharing agreement.
It's an alliance.
It's it's so that's somethingthat I feel like stakeholders

(25:36):
and shippers don't oftenunderstand is you get better
routing options, you get better,hopefully, rates, but really it
comes down to better efficiencyof both of the equipment and the
vessels.
And it really comes down to thevessels and those routes.
That having everybody talktogether was a great thing
because it was a global problem.

SPEAKER_00 (25:56):
Oh, you said it very well, Lauren, because again,
going back to what's the missionof the FMC, and I think we
commenced a a strong, well,first of all, we furthered a
strong argument that the the FMCneeded to be very proactive on
these issues because that's whyit was created in the first
place during the Kennedyadministration back in 1961.

(26:17):
An agency to focus on the impactof international uh regulation,
international movement of cargo,and how that impacts the
domestic arena again here in theUnited States.
So I think again, now here weare in eight in year 2025, and
it's so apropos now in the lastcouple of years, given the uh
discussions that we're stillhaving about whether it's global

(26:41):
supply chain disruption or costissues, geopolitical
discussions.
I think again it's it's it'sit's a it's a very good setting
for the FMC to engage,particularly with members on the
hill.
I think that's the other aspectthat uh Lauren that I think we
really elevated when I was atthe FMC, our dialogue on the

(27:02):
hill.
And and because again, evencongressional members sometimes
weren't aware of the mission ofthe FMC.

SPEAKER_01 (27:11):
And they still do a pretty good job, but they're
still learning to be done,right?
I mean, everybody's kind oflearning as they go along.
Often one of the biggestconfusions is, as you know,
right, is Mayrad versus FMC,that they are two separate
agencies, right?
That they are that the FMC is anindependent regulatory agency,
whereas Mayrad is uh, you know,under Department of
Transportation.

(27:32):
And and I really think that theseparation of FMC from Mayrad
and FMC used to be together asthe Federal Maritime Board, but
then it was separated.
And I see it as, well, the FMCis really kind of the the
referee, right?
So they they're the ones who arecalling, you know, strikes and
balls and and right, we'll we'llstick with baseball.
I see you've got the Dodgersright there, always having the
Dodgers Cup.

(27:53):
And then but the but Mayrad isreally kind of the the
promotional piece, right?
It's it's maybe even the the theowners or the, you know, they're
they're they're the ones thatare putting money and injecting
money, and they're they're alsomaking sure that the team does
well.
They're the US flag promotionalarm, whereas the FMC really is
that independent regulator,regulatory, you know, referee,

(28:16):
if you will.
So I I think that that was areally, really good thing that
you did.
You really, I think you werehiring people even within the
agency that we didn't have thoselegislative arms or or we didn't
have as built out of juststaffers working on that
communication directly to thehill.
Another thing that you did thatreally will never find its way
into any sort of news mediabecause it was more operational.

(28:39):
We got new computers.
When you showed up, I think westill had 1990s, right?
I don't think we had DOS, but wecertainly had very old, archaic.
I think we still had, you know,the soft sloppy drive ability.
And you gave us new computersfor the entire agency that that
really sped things up, right?
We still have some platformsthat even now are a little bit

(28:59):
older in the FMC system.
But but your your vision was notjust that of large global
regulatory, but how can youassist the FMC and the staff?
And and I can tell you, thankyou.
We love the new computers.
Uh, when I was working there,that was a fantastic upgrade.

SPEAKER_00 (29:18):
Well, Laura, again, I was surrounded by very good
staff.
Uh, you may uh recall that uh II lobbied.
Well, first of all, I want tothank Congress for that because
I lobbied to the congressionalleaders that we needed to uh
fund the FNC at an elevatedlevel, including our
infrastructure, whether it's ITand other aspects of it.

(29:39):
So fortunately, we were able toget some support from some
congressional committeesregarding the uplifting of the
Federal Maritime Commission, andthe staff did a great job for
setting the tone and the roadmapfor that.
And I think I will all I willsay that uh as subsequent to my
departure, the FMC has continuedon a very good track.

(29:59):
I mean, Chairman McFay did agreat job during the uh I mean
who would have thought that theuh ocean shipping author would
have been amended would beamended?
And of course it was a coupleyears ago, not only to include
additional resources for theFMC, but additional funding.
So Chairman McFay did a greatjob and and his leadership.

(30:21):
But again, but for the COVID-19,well, first of all, the COVID-19
was certainly a a tragedy of thepandemic of the century, but it
did elevate the importance ofthe supply chain, given the
supply chain disruption not onlyin the global but in the
domestic areas here.
It did elevate the importance ofthat global supply chain to

(30:42):
Congress.
So I think going forward, Ithink it's fair to say that I
think uh many of ourcongressional members really do
see the importance not only ofthe supply chain investment in
the supply chain, but in ourportal stories throughout the
United States.

SPEAKER_01 (30:56):
Yeah, I think that's right.
And you know, that that's one ofthe things that I think that in
a good way the FMC alwaysstruggles with is they really
don't have a lot of funding.
So, you know, when when wheneverthere are cutbacks of 10% cuts
or 20% cuts across the board,the FMC runs very lean.
And I think when you were there,it was 98% salaries on the on

(31:18):
the overall.
And and it still probably is inthe 90s, where, you know, it's a
30-ish million dollar budget.
I mean, that's a line item.
That's less than a project for alot of other places.
You know, ports are receivinggrants larger than the entire
budget of the FMC.
And I'm not saying that we needto overinflate it with a giant
salary, but I think that there,as these percentage cuts kind of

(31:41):
come down, recognize that thereare some agencies that already
run very lean for on a verypurposeful way that that was
designed that way, but thatstill needs some support.
And and as the FMC is gettingmore authorities, both through
ASRA 2022, but also there's somenew things in the FMC
reauthorization, which willexpand the advisory committees

(32:03):
that the FMC is offering, whichis wonderful for engagement with
the stakeholders to this agency.
I think that the budget, youknow, for anybody in Congress
listening, the budget certainlyneeds to be expanded to match
those authorities because as itwas when we were there, it's
about 100 to 115, 120 people,employees that includes

(32:23):
administrative staff support.
It's not just all 120 economistsand lawyers.
And so having a maybe 40,000 40million dollar budget and a
maybe 130, 150 person target inthe next few years, it's still
pretty low.

SPEAKER_00 (32:42):
So we'll see.
I think going forward, I thinkagain, that advocacy will
continue.

SPEAKER_01 (32:49):
Well, and I think you did a I guess all that to
say you did a fantastic jobsetting the stage for that
because I think that it reallyneeded that attention and that
expanded education.
So thinking back, there was alot of international engagement
that you did, which rightfullyso.
The FMC doesn't operate in avacuum, supply chain doesn't
operate in a vacuum.
Is there anything from thoseconversations that that you

(33:10):
really took away that thatreally kind of expanded your
horizons on you you obviouslywere probably already starting
to have these internationalconversations, but to see the
global regulatory summit andthen these maritime bilateral,
multilateral, you were oftentraveling with the maritime
administrator, sometimesDepartment of State
representatives, consulategenerals, all of that.
Uh, was there anything fromthose experiences that really

(33:32):
kind of opened your mind?
Because in in our progressionhere today, our conversations,
you've you've been the harborcommissioner, then a
commissioner at the FMC, andthen now in this chairman role,
you were directing some of thoseconversations.
Talk to me a little bit aboutthat experience.

SPEAKER_00 (33:46):
Well, I think again, it it really places a focus that
decision making that's that thatthat we have at the regulatory
agency like the FMC or even aport authority impacts not just
your uh immediate uh circle ofas an agency or as a port, but
it impacts uh numerousstakeholders in the supply

(34:10):
chain.
And again, uh a discussion interms of the uh decisions that
uh involve the cost of movinggoods.
Well, those are hard decisionsthat you have to address, you
know, because again, at the endof the day, uh you know uh these
cost impact issues uh affect anumber of stakeholders, and then

(34:33):
translates to ultimately whatthe consumer pays at the end of
the day with regard to the uhthose goods that they they
purchase.
So I think again, understandingthe the viewpoints of whether
it's a freight floater, ashipper, and the stakeholders,
the truckers, the railroads, andthe unions is so important

(34:54):
because again, I think uh frommy perspective, going back to my
my answer in 2003 to thepublisher of the Long Beach
Press Telegram, I I think thequestion that we must ask always
is, you know, how does thisbenefit the many, you know, at
all levels?
You know, the third partyvendors.
I mean, in the alliancediscussions, uh you know,

(35:17):
sometimes the what was lost inthe discussion in terms of the
media was the impact onthird-party vendors.
And we have to really have aconcrete understanding of that
because again, these arepeople's livelihoods that you're
affecting.
So when I view in terms ofwhat's uh the benefit to the
many, I think these decisions interms of how we move

(35:40):
containerized cargo and theeconomic benefits really have to
filter down from not only thethe top-level uh BCOs, carriers,
but also the men and women whowork in the supply chain.
And I think even in today'sworld, that's probably the
biggest challenge right now thatwe have in light of the oncoming

(36:03):
technology that we're seeing inthe fifth industrial revolution,
that is the implementation oftechnology to create more
efficiency.
And at the same time, how are weguarded in terms of protecting
the workforce?
That probably is going to be thebig challenge for all sectors in
the industry going forward.

SPEAKER_01 (36:24):
Yeah, I think that's right.
And I think that that's also,you know, we have to find ways
of challenging, of, of solvingsome of these challenges with
congestion and identifying someof those pain points.
But then also, how do we findways for, you know, it's
obviously not robots replacingpeople.
That's not where we want to go.
But how can we find things thathelp elevate, augment, you know,
amplify, support, you know, theperhaps the same way that that

(36:49):
some of the technologies thatmake our everyday lives a little
easier, right?
I mean, I I prefer having ablender than I do, you know,
mashing things up by hand.
But but I I don't feel uhthere's there's ways of
balancing, and it's a verytender balance, and it's
something that we really have tokeep in mind and not run too
fast toward, but do so kind ofin a very, in a very measured

(37:10):
way.
I want to go back to this 2015congestion report.
This was something that at thetime it was released, I think
that it certainly caught its wayinto the overall supply chain
conversation.
But really, where I found it tobe most helpful was when 2020
hit.
So five years prior, youidentified, and really six years

(37:31):
prior, right?
Because it was 2014 that we kindof started getting to work on
this, you identified some verykey things happening in the
industry, these trends that youwere seeing, these pain points
and problems that you had seenon the West Coast, but then
through your your kind ofexploration of all ports in your
chairmanship role of of what waswhat was happening across the
country.

(37:52):
And so this report is kind of ait, you know, unfortunately, it
became the playbook of of 2020.
And all the things that we sawstart breaking down were things
that had been identified in thisreport.
Was it your your Long Beachexperience that gave you
obviously that very directoperational insight into the

(38:12):
trends you were seeing?
And then you were, they weretherefore able to recognize them
quicker at once you got to thefederal level?
Or or talk to me a little bitabout where the idea for this
congestion report came in.
It was it was something that waslingering, but it wasn't really
forefront until you brought itinto this report.

SPEAKER_00 (38:30):
Well, first of all, Laura, there was another that
that's another instance wherethere was some debate within the
FMC commission as to whether weengage in a congestion study or
pursue this endeavor.
I felt strongly that we should.
If you go back and look at ourmission statement, the FMC, the

(38:50):
mission statement is fosteringfair, efficient movement of
containerized waterborne cargoand also being concerned about
the cost effectiveness or theimpact of those costs to uh to
the shareholders or thestakeholders, better said.
So how can you not address anissue of congestion?

(39:11):
Because we do know one thing.
When we do have congestion,there is cost that are increased
ultimately, not only tostakeholders but to the consumer
when goods don't flow in anefficient manner.
So with that, we address anumber of issues that we

(39:32):
incorporate in that report afterlistening to testimony from
various stakeholders or sectorsin the American industry.
And like you said, many of thoseissues surfaced in 2020.
We were again discussing youknow how do you how do we
address issues, excuse me,involving chassis, operational
hours, transloading, all that'sinvolved in again, efficient

(39:56):
movement of goods uh through thecountry.
So yeah.
It was a very worthwhileexperience and I think really
brought the FMC into prominenceprominence.
And as you know, we deliveredthat report to key committees in
Congress.
And so that what we saw in 2020as a result of the COVID-19

(40:17):
supply chain disruption, a lotof those questions really came
into play.
More specifically, the questionabout 24-7 mindset of
operations.
That's still a debate in thissector.
But you know, when you look at agateway like the San Peter Bay
complex when that I was familiarwith when I went to the FMC, you

(40:39):
know, does it make sense for aleading gateway of containerized
cargo and cranes aren't movingon a Sunday or they're not
moving, you know, particularlyhours in the day or excuse me,
in the evening, unlike the portsof origin.
I mean, I think Lauren, you havecome to the uh TPM conference
here that uh Long Beach hostsannually the largest maritime uh

(41:02):
conference in the country.
And for the last couple ofyears, we've had key executives,
you know, one Jeremy Nixon fromthe OE and Soren Toff from MSc
in different years, noting thefact that the the ports of
origin are 24-7 and they come tothe USA and we're not.

(41:23):
So I don't think every gatewayhas to be 24-7 or expansion of
hours, but certainly the most uhsignificant and largest gateway,
we do have to expand ouroperation hours, and there has
been some movement on that.
Although I I would admit we'renot gonna work 24 hours a day,
seven days a week anytime soon.
But I think we're we're startingto realize that uh in my first

(41:48):
state of the port speech as a asa CEO at Long Beach that I made
when I was blessed to re to getthis job, I said we need to have
an Amazon state of mind.
I wasn't promoting a company,but obviously we could all agree
that Amazon changed a bigdynamic in the in the movement

(42:08):
of packages and goods in thiscountry 24-7.
I mean, just a few miles awayfrom Long Beach in Ontario, you
had the largest uh Amazonwarehouse distribution center.
Well, actually it's afulfillment center, 4.7 million
square feet of a warehouse.

(42:31):
And they aiming to move amillion packages a day.
So of course you need to thinkabout you know how we expand our
hours of operation to continuethat efficiency and movement of
cargo so that we don't get intoa bottleneckslash congestion
scenario.
And fortunately, here at the St.

(42:51):
Peter Bay complex, we haven'tbeen in that scenario in the
last couple of years.
So going forward again, I wantto thank the terminals in this
San Peter Bay that uh are reallycognizant of what we need to do
to kind of have a transformativemode in our hours of operation
at our terminals.

SPEAKER_01 (43:10):
Well, and and you know, Amazon is a fantastic
example, right?
Because they started out as justa bookstore, you know, just an
online bookstore that that builtto what they are today by
finding the opportunities, by byfixing the problems they saw
along the way, and then gettingto be the best at it, right?
It turns out everybody wantspredictability and shipments,
two-day turn time.

(43:31):
So there's something to be saidfor that.
And I think we're we're movingon the predictability on the
cargo movements, but that's alsosomething that the entire
industry is continuing totackle.
You're right, TPM is fantastic.
I call it ocean shipping nerdcamp.
It was I have the best I alwaysdo.
And then this past year, we hadthe the president's speech, the

(43:51):
State of the Union, I think itwas what it was, during the TPM.
So here I was, you know, youspend all day in in meetings or
in conversations or panels, andthen you go to these after
events.
And I think I was watching thatspeech at 1 a.m.
after everything gets closed upbecause I missed it because I
was at dinner during that.
But there were some really wildthings happening, and we were

(44:12):
able to discuss them with thehighest levels of leadership all
in one space.
It was it was a fantastic TPMfor that reason.
So I wanted to say uh before weclose up the FMC book, do you
remember when you were asked tobe chairman?
What was that like?
What you had it was you were afairly new commissioner uh

(44:34):
coming into the agency, but whatwas that experience like where
it was all right, we we'rethinking that we're gonna put
you up for chair?
Are you interested?
How is this gonna go?
And then kind of what was yourfirst day as chairman, right?
You were already familiar withthe FMC, but what was that like?

SPEAKER_00 (44:49):
Just kind of a personal you know, for me that
was unexpected.
And as you indicated, once I didreport to DC uh within a year or
shortly thereafter, I I was uh Ireceived a call from the White
House, President Obama'scouncil, and they indicated to

(45:12):
me that they were gonna proposeuh for me to be chairman of the
agency.
And would I accept that uh thatelevation?
So I was it was totallyunexpected.
And of course I said yes, I'd beinterested.
But it it again, I've been soblessed in my life with the
opportunities that had been infront of me.

(45:33):
We've already talked in thisinterview some of those
opportunities that reallychanged my career track.
And so yeah, it was a veryinteresting uh scenario because
uh going to DC was a toughdecision on my part to do this.
And now once I'm there, I'mgonna be considered chairman of

(45:55):
the agency, which is Laura, asyou know, it's a different
dynamic when you're chairman.
Uh you you run the agency.
And so I had to keep it uh closeto to the vest for a while.
You know, it was something thatthe the president indicated that
uh he was gonna make anannouncement at some point, but
didn't want me to share thatwith anyone until that

(46:16):
announcement was made.
And as you were are aware, youwere there.
Once that announcement was made,then I I did go down the hallway
and moved into the chairmanheadquarters or office.
And I was very energetic for theagenda that eventually everybody
saw that I wanted to reallyelevate the FMC and have it, you

(46:38):
know, have the agency be a awell-recognized player within
the mission statement that wehave.
And I think also it was a timewhere the FMC didn't have very
good ratings in terms of, youknow, they had the annual agency
of the year and the ratings ofagencies that uh employees fill

(47:01):
out a survey every year, and theagency at that time was not near
the top of the list.
And I vowed that within twoyears we would be the number one
agency of the small agencycategories, and sure enough,
within two years we were.
I think that's anotheraccomplishment that uh I
certainly am very proud of.
But more importantly, likeLauren, the staff I had around

(47:23):
me, beginning with my chief ofstaff, uh Mary Wang, and others,
including yourself, made it soeasy for us to really uh be
proactive.
And I think uh I was verytouched when Chairman Solas this
year at the uh AAPA springconference referenced that, that
uh he mentioned me as aconsequential leader and who

(47:46):
really changed the E FMC interms of uh its profile.
So I think again, I I I've beenvery blessed for not only the
opportunities, but to have thepeople around me who were very
good at what they did what theydid or what they do and with
that subject matter expertise.
So I I I shared a lot of successwith the people around me and
executive staff who who were whodid the work on this.

SPEAKER_01 (48:10):
That's right.
I I had almost completelyforgotten.
You we did go from uh prettymuch last in in employee
satisfaction, I think is what itwas, and we were number one on
employee satisfaction within twoyears of you coming in.
That's right.
It had gone from, you know, it'sa federal job to, and I I almost

(48:31):
don't want to say it because Idon't want to sound trite, but
it went from a federal job to afamily.
I mean, it really we would haveholiday get-togethers, we would
have chilly cook-offs, right?
We would have all sorts of fun,fun activities where we actually
we enjoyed the work and weenjoyed the the the we were
focused on a mission.
And and I think that you didsuch a great job.
So so thank you for for at leastthat piece of time and and the

(48:55):
trajectory that you put the FMCon.
I think that you you really hada lot of great insights there.

SPEAKER_00 (48:59):
It's interesting you mentioned family environment
because that's what I believe Itransferred here at the Port of
Long Beach, that familyenvironment, because when I took
this job, I also told theworkforce that I wanted the uh
the Port of Long Beach to be afamily, you know, that we work
hard, but at the same time, youknow, we socialize and have some

(49:20):
fun and and show appreciationand gratitude.
So I think that's where we're athere at the Port of Long Beach,
the same scenario in which Ihave great staff around me and
we're a family, you know.

SPEAKER_01 (49:33):
Uh so yeah, I think that And that's a wonderful
segue too, because that was oneof my that was my next question
was so you have all this federalexperience, and then you were, I
believe, asked to come back toto Port of Long Beach in the CEO
role.
What were some of the thingsthat you learned that that, you
know, kind of you had the harborcommissioner experience, and
then you had this commissionerand then FMC chairman role that

(49:55):
you then brought back to theport with your kind of newly
shined up lens that that youwere now seeing the the port in
a new light?
What were some of those thingsthat carried through with you
and and that helped you once yougot to back to Long Beach?

SPEAKER_00 (50:11):
Well, first of all, I will say at the Poor of Long
Beach, my uh the the executivedirectors who led before me have
done a great job at this port inall aspects.
So it was a much easier task tosay, how do we elevate here at
the Poor Long Beach?
But having said that, I thinkone of the things that I brought

(50:32):
back from Washington is theimportance of the of the
political component of youroperation, you know, your
outreach to legislatures.
In our case, Sacramento here inCalifornia.
And as you know, Lauren, youremember that sign in my office,
everything's political.
It's still there in my officetoday.
And everything is political,trust me on that.

(50:53):
So so with that, I think uh, youknow, the you're you're
interviewing me in a studio thatwe started here a few years ago
on the 10th floor, is our mediastudio, and this is something I
thought was very important forus to invest in, for us to
really try to control thenarrative of the poor Long

(51:14):
Beach, our engagement not onlyin terms of the community, but
with our stakeholders, ourtemporal operators, and of
course our our electiveofficials.
So that in our community, and Iwill say that a recent survey
taken here of the portal LongBeach really affirmed the fact
that the the citizens of LongBeach have very much embraced
the port, not only as aneconomic engine, but as a real

(51:37):
player in terms of our communityengagement, much different than
back in 2003 before weimplemented the Greenport
policy.
No one liked the port because ofthe congestion on the freeways
and the pollution.
So I think we've gone a long wayhere at the Port of Long Beach.
And again, credit to mypredecessors who also did a
great job in in addressing theseissues.

SPEAKER_01 (52:01):
Yeah, and so uh moving back to back home,
basically, right?
I mean, you you you certainlymoved to DC, but you always had
a foot back home.
You were you were quick to headback to the West Coast for
family events.
And and you know, as much as wefelt like you were part of the
DC world, you probably remainedjust as much a part of the

(52:22):
California, Long Beach, SanPedro Bay conversation.
And so it was a natural nextstep for you.
I I felt you you did you werealready so well equipped for
that role, and then you steppedinto it so well with all of the
leadership that you had ex kindof shown during the FMC years.
And it set you up for the thirdyears, right?
These COVID congestion yearsthat we often focused a lot on

(52:45):
the on the headlines.
But what were some of thosequieter decisions or or maybe
some some of the things that thepublic didn't get to see when it
really came down to how do Iprotect the people around here,
right?
How do I make sure thateverybody's safe and accounted
for, but also trying to makesure that the throughput was
happening.
I'm sure there were some verydifficult decisions having to be

(53:07):
made, but there were some reallystrategic ways that ports were
handling that that verydifficult time.

SPEAKER_00 (53:14):
Well, I think on on two fronts.
Number one, in terms of hereregionally, we were very
proactive in supplying mass andother medical equipment, so to
speak, that we were able to haveas a port, even though there was
a shortage, unbelievably, uh,during that time.
But eventually we did have stockup on masks and gloves, and we

(53:37):
distributed to the community andin our workforce and on the in
the port complex.
We became very proactive.
I'm proud to say the port ofLong Beach was immediately when
the vaccine was available, weprovided that free at no cost to
the dock workers, and we werevery much engaged on that, and
and ultimately the seafarers inthe seafarer center that we have

(54:00):
here in the harbor complex.
And and I think with regard tothe congestion and the
disruption that we haddomestically in the supply
chain, I think the interestingbackroom discussions were the
daily calls with the White Houseenvoy, which began with John
Picari on appointment fromPresident Biden, and ultimately

(54:21):
a meeting where I was at theWhite House in the Roosevelt
room with the president.
I think that was memorable.
And I think those discussionswas a full court press by the
White House with the St PeterBay complex, which included the
port of Los Angeles, in terms ofhow do we address these
bottlenecks and disruptions, andhow do we engage to not only do

(54:44):
it short term but long term.
And I think those were veryfruitful discussions, and I
think it reaffirms the fact thathow significant this gateway is,
the St.
Peter Bay complex, because whenwe had those issues, where did
the White House go to to addressoverall the national supply
chain to the St.
Peter Bay complex?

(55:05):
So those discussions on a dailybasis, phone calls where we had
shippers on the call, carriers,Chachi owners, the union
members, I think was memorablein terms of a collaborative
spirit that we all had to makethings better, not only in the
national supply chain, butcertainly here in the region,

(55:27):
the largest container gateway inthe country.
So I think all that was a verypositive experience and the
proactivists, particularly ofthe Port of Long Beach, in
leading those discussions.

SPEAKER_01 (55:38):
Well, you did a great job.
So one last question before weclose up.
I've so enjoyed our conversationhere today.
You know, as you as you kind oflook back, you've had both
federal regulation, portleadership, you've had all these
high-level roles across thesupply chain.
What are some of the things thatyou hope the industry carries
forward, whether it's anapproach, a mindset, or maybe

(55:58):
just a way of working together?
Is there anything that you feelyou didn't get done?
And what lessons do you hopethat the next generation will
continue to work on, right?
Some things just can't get done.
You know, what is the nextgeneration of maritime leaders?
What are you looking for?
What are you hoping to see?

SPEAKER_00 (56:16):
Well, first of all, transformation that continues in
two areas.
One, operational transformation.
I talked about the fact that weneed to really explore how we
move cargo around the clock, youknow, so to speak, have that
framework.
So that again here at the SanPedro Bay complex, we're in the

(56:39):
midst of again moving 20 millionTEUs, LA and Lombs together.
And we we we cannot miss a beatin terms of moving that cargo.
Talking about velocity of cargoas opposed to volatility.
Second, digital transformation.
I think every port in thecountry is looking at this.

(56:59):
In our particular case, youknow, we are we introduced the
concept of the supply chaininformation highway.
And Dr.
Noel Hatagawa has been a greatleader in that endeavor in terms
of promoting the supply chaininformation highway so that we
could have some integratedmovement of digital information

(57:20):
so that we further transparencyand visibility in in the supply
chain.
So those are two areas that wekeep we need to keep elevating
and moving in terms under thebroader classification or title
of transformation.
And then also the fact thatagain, one of the things I

(57:41):
introduced at our recentmanagement meeting a few months
ago was the whole discussionabout AI.
Yeah, there's there's a lot ofdebate about that, but I said to
the staff, we have two choices.
We could be dismissive of thistechnology and then be behind
the eight-ball in a few years,or we can embrace it and see

(58:01):
where it fits with the portal onbeach.
And hopefully, in my view, whereit fits is to enhance the skill
set of our employees here, notreplace them, but enhance the
skill set.
Because I think I see this as askill set that's going to be
required in the workforce of thefuture.
So the more you know about it,the more that includes your

(58:22):
productivity, and of course, themore that puts you in a better
posture with regard toopportunities that come later in
terms of promotion and otheraspects in the workforce.

SPEAKER_01 (58:34):
Well, thank you so much.
This has been incredible to havethis conversation with you.
Thank you for your years ofservice.
You've you've led across everylevel of this industry and you
brought steadiness to complexpolicy, clarity during
turbulence, and truly humanityto decisions that affect
millions of people around theworld.
I mean, supply chain affects usall, from longshore workers to

(58:55):
shippers to everyday familieswaiting on goods.
So, on behalf of the entireocean shipping and supply chain
world, thank you.
Your leadership really has madea difference.
And for me personally, I'mgrateful that I've had the
chance to work with you underyour leadership at the FMC and
to learn from your approachthrough the years and now
reflect on your career that hasmeant so much to so many.
So I wish you nothing butfulfillment, rest, and joy in

(59:15):
this next chapter.
But I know you, you will not sitdown for long.
You'll probably take a few tripsin the meantime, and then I'm
excited to see where we see youagain.

SPEAKER_00 (59:25):
I will not uh I will not be in the state of indolent
repose, Lauren.
So I will say one last thingfrom the ended on a baseball
note.
Okay.
I will say that during my sixyears in Washington, uh, my
number two team was theWashington Nationals.
I will never lose my loyalty tothe Dodgers as the number one
team, but it was a greatexperience uh walking to

(59:47):
National Stadium.
I lived in the SouthwestDistrict in Washington, so it
was about eight blocks, six orseven blocks from the stadium.
So aside from my work there atthe FMC, I also continue.

SPEAKER_01 (01:00:00):
you my my my my love for baseball visiting the
washington nationals so uh and iknow that was your number one
team then also so we shared thatexperience at the fmc among
other things you know the thethe events that we had fmc at
national stadium those weregreat events that i remember it
was so fun and that's when bryceharper was really on his on his

(01:00:22):
movement toward towards stardomwas was from your cheering and
the fmc support while he was atthe nets well thank you so much
lauren thank you very much mariothis has been wonderful thank
you so much best of luck thankyou what an incredible
conversation mario really hasled across every level of this

(01:00:44):
industry from local governanceto national regulation to global
regulatory dialogue to portleadership and he's done it with
steadiness clarity and a genuinecommitment to public service and
again since this conversationwas reported it's exciting to
say the port of Long Beach hasannounced that Dr.
Noel Hasagaba is its incomingCEO.

(01:01:04):
I'm excited to see how he leadsthis port into the next chapter
and I know the industry will beclosely watching and supporting
him.
Mario thank you for taking thetime to reflect with me
especially at such a meaningfulmoment in your career.
If you like this episode be sureto follow subscribe and leave a
review.
Want to go deeper on thesetopics or bring this kind of
insight to your team visit themaritimeprofessor.com to explore

(01:01:25):
corporate trainings, tailoredbriefings and on-demand webinars
all designed to make maritimeregulations practical and easy
to understand.
And if your organization needshelp navigating the legal or
strategic side of ocean shippingregulations, head over to SWAL
Strategies.
That's where I provideconsulting services, regulatory
guidance and policy support forclients working in the global

(01:01:47):
ocean shipping space and allacross the global ocean shipping
supply chain.
As always this podcast is foreducational purposes only and
should not be considered legaladvice.
If you need an attorney contactan attorney so until next time
I'm Lauren Began the maritimeprofessor and you've just
listened to By Land and by C.
See you next time

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