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Stockton, Now an Ocean Port Expects Rapid Growth By ©, ©) Burgin™ LTHOUGH Stockton, Calif., is A 88 miles inland from the sea, it has joined the ranks of mari- time cities. Waterborne commerce is not an innovation to Stockton for her first regular carrier was the tiny sloop Maria, in 1848, owned by Captain Weber who founded Stockton seven years before that. Modern business, however, demands modern transportation facilities. The present ship channel, completed in February, 1933, known as the Stockton ship channel, permits 85 per cent of the vessels plying the Pacific coast to dock in its fresh water harbor. Its course is through the waters of San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun bays, thence along the deepened and straightened San Joaquin river. Through a comprehensive develop- ment of the port project there has been made available 10,000 acres of reasonably priced level water front in- dustrial sites, all of which will be served by the public belt railroad, as well as an adequate net-work of truck highways. In this industrial area there will be 18 miles of water front- age on the main channel, and 24 miles of potential water front on the side channels. Dock Facilities Developed When the ship channel was com- pleted the city had built 400 feet of open wharves and 937 feet of covered wharves. Additions to these facilities have been and will be made as require- ments warrant. The tonnage produced in the hinter- land, tributary to the port, is prin- cipally agricultural and approximates 1,000,000 tons annually. The present annual inbound and outbound tonnage approximates 300,000-tons, in addition to agriculture products, and includes lumber, cement and petroleum prod- ucts. The port of Stockton is served by three transcontinental railroads, the Santa Fe, Southern Pacifie and Western Pacific and their connections. The highways which reach out of Stockton give promise that motor trucks will continue to play a large part in the progress of the port. The rail lines, at the time the origi- nal surveys for the channel were made, had rates to and from Stockton lower than rates from and to San Francisco bay. However, the trucks, a few years ago, became formidable competitors against the rail lines, and in hauling the agriculture products from the val- The author, C. O. Burgin, is traffic manager of the Port of Stockton, Calif. 30 leys to the bay they did so at con- siderable lower rates than was charged by the railroads. As a result the rail- roads have consistently lowered their bay rates to meet this truck competi- tion, and after several adjustments the rates dropped to a level below that enjoyed by Stockton. While the trucks are operating from and to Stockton at substantially $1 per ton less than they charge from and to San Francisco bay, the rail lines have not yet indicated a willingness to ad- just the rates from or to Stockton to those charged by the truck companies at the present time. During the period since the ship channel facilities were opened on Jan. 4, 1933 to March 1, 1934, 204 vessels of all classes have called at the. port. Last year 300,000~ tons passed over the docks at Stockton. Of these 300,000 tons handled, 37,940 tons were discharged from vessels and 48,- 448 tons were loaded aboard vessels operating on the high seas. Different Trades Served The following is a segregated list of where these tons came from and where they went to: No. of In Out Vessels Coastwise cca iacs 30,402 13,983 97 Intercoastal: Sass: 5; (a2 32,997 88 Transpacific and South Americea...... 1,806 1,468 4 37,940 48,448 139 In the first two months of 1934, Stockton handled 54,000 tons over the docks both in and out. The number of vessels calling has increased rapidly. For instance, dur- ing the first half of 1933 there were 26 vessels and during the last half 1138. Stockton as an ocean port celebrated its first anniversary last February, and a review of the year’s work shows that its budget was well taken care of by earned revenues. The Stockton chamber of commerce in 1931 decided to make a survey of the amount of tons actually moving in and out of the great central valley of California. For obvious reasons it was not possible to make the survey a complete one in the limited time available. Tabulation of the partial data obtained shows the following tonnages received and forwarded by businesses and individuals in central California during 1931: Tons of Freight IMtercoastal Grecian 248,145 BMMODERI irae atc eer ean 281,900 APT AMS POCO? eich cam cae 107,080 COGS al ey ee een 167,939 MARINE REVIEw—July, 1934 It is to be expected that when more shippers and receivers of freight real- ize from actual experience the savings of one dollar or more per ton by the movement of their shipments through the port of Stockton, the annual ton- nage through the port during the next few years will far exceed the estimated 1,000,000 tons per year. Some Sources of Freight Some of the potential tonnage will come from the following sources: large quantities of fertilizer materials, bones from South America; fish meal is brought in from Japan and Canada, quantities of bananas from Central America, oil cake, molasses and other fertilizers and feed ingredients are also brought in. During the year 1932 California imported 38,508 tons of drugs. The fruit industry consumes some 18,000 tons of tin plate yearly. Throughout the territory served by Stockton are many canneries. These and the dried fruit industry furnish some 200,000 tons for water movement each year. The raisin industry fur- nishes approximately 50,000 tons for movement via intercoastal and foreign shipping. The largest packer of raisins in the world, the Sun-Maid Raisin Growers association, Fresno, Calif., has moved all of its raisins through the port since last Summer. On every ton so moved $1 is saved which makes a saving of $18 on each carload. The port of Stockton will make a large saving for shippers of canned and dried truits. Last year shippers of the valley were saved $80,000 and this will keep increasing as business in- creases through the port. The cotton industry extends from Kern county to San Joaquin county in the valley and has a ready market in Japan. In 1928, 14,000 bales; in 1929, 231,000 bales; in 1930, 246,000 bales; in 1931, 159,463 bales were produced. The drop in production in 1931 was due to price conditions. The govern- ment has loaned the port $230,000 for building one of the most modern and complete cotton compresses in the west, and it is expected that 60,000 bales will be compressed at the port each year. This means that approxi- mately one quarter of the California cotton crop will be handled. The development of the rice grow- ing industry in the Sacramento valley will provide additional tonnage for the port. Large quantities of condensed milk are exported to the Orient. Stockton promises to become one of the largest wine centers of the states. In considering the future possibili- ties of Stockton as an ocean port it must be borne in mind that it not only has the harbor facilities, rail and truck connections, but it has the back- ing of a wonderfully productive hin- derland and the trade. It has, with- in a radius of 50 miles, a popuiation of 720,000 and within a radius of 200 miles, a population of 2,600,000,