Start the clock: Lowenthal bill provides impetus for California terminals to establish appointment systems and to extend gate hours. (Ports/Intermodal).

Marine terminal operators still don't like the Lowenthal bill, which would subject them to a $250 fine each time a truck has to wait in line at their terminals for more than 30 minutes. But now that it has passed the California Legislature and has been sent to Gov. Gray Davis, they're trying to adjust.

"We're not happy with it," said Tony Scioscia, president of APM Terminals North America, the terminal operator for Maersk Sealand. But, he added, "We'll do what we have to do."

One thing that terminal operators almost certainly will do is establish appointment systems for truckers, so that they don't have to wait in long lines. "Every terminal operator should have an appointment system," said Ed DeNike, chief operating officer of Stevedoring Services of America, which operates several container terminals in Los Angeles-Long Beach and Oakland.

APL Ltd. is considering extended gate hours as well as an appointment system, and may end up with a combination of the two strategies, said William Hamlin, president, North America region, for APL Ltd. "Each terminal must determine what works for them," he said.

The legislation, …