Honolulu-based shipping company Young Brothers LLC will be able to buy new forklift scales thanks to a grant of more than $200,000 from the U.S. Maritime Administration’s America’s Marine Highway Program, the Hawaii Department of Transportation recently announced.
“This grant represents a critical and necessary funding mechanism to assist in the modernization of our equipment at all our island ports, enabling our highly skilled employees to more safely and efficiently move cargo around the island ports and load the barge,” Young Brothers President Jay Ana said.
Young Brothers, an independently managed subsidiary of Foss Maritime Co. and part of the Saltchuk family of firms, offers 12 weekly port calls from Honolulu to neighboring island ports.
Currently, reporting load weights falls on Young Brothers’ customers when they check in cargo, which adds to traffic congestion at of the company’s gates. The new scales will give Young Brothers real-time weight information when preparing cargo to be shipped from the port.
“Hawaii’s marine highway is the result of years of work and partnership between HDOT Harbors Division and harbor users, and we congratulate Young Brothers on leading this important first step in this program,” state Transportation Director Jade Butay said. “This grant will help Young Brothers streamline its operations, and these improvements in inter-island shipping benefit all the people of Hawaii.”