The Port of Hueneme.

PORT HUENEME, Calif. — Dona Toteva Lacayo and her coworkers at the Port of Hueneme run a tight ship.

Born in Bulgaria, Lacayo moved to the U.S. as a young woman to study at South Carolina’s College of Charleston.

While there, she was exposed to Charleston’s bustling maritime trade economy, which captivated her interest, prompting her to major in international business with minors in German language and global logistics and transportation.

Today, alongside a crew of other innovators, Lacayo, 40, helps manage Southern California’s Port of Hueneme — pronounced why-nee-me — a small, deep-water cargo port about 60 miles northwest of the Los Angeles metro area.

Agricultural exporters say Hueneme stands out from other ports because of its timely operations and lack of congestion, even during the global supply chain crisis.

“Our services are very much on time,” said Lacayo, the port’s chief commercial and public affairs officer. “We’re not congested.”

Ocean transport data show that charter vessels traveling between Asia and America often cut transit time for shippers by at least 15 to 20 days by using Hueneme versus the other more congested ports. Truckers also have shorter wait times at gates, and cargo moves quickly through Hueneme.

“As a user of this port, we have found that Dona (Lacayo) and the operation of this port has been as smooth as possible,” a representative from United Cargo Management, a cargo and freight company, said at the Agriculture Transportation Coalition’s recent conference in Tacoma, Wash.

Peter Friedmann, executive director of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition, agreed, saying he appreciates Hueneme’s efficiency. He called Lacayo “a big hero.”

“One-stop shopping: Dial D-O-N-A, Dona,” Friedmann joked. “She gets (the exporter) to the carrier, she gets them to the terminal …gets a trucker there, and it’s just terrific. I mean, that’s an operating port.”

The Port of Hueneme is growing in popularity. From 2017 to 2021, the port’s fresh fruit exports have increased 285%, and in the past year alone, general exports have increased 136%.

What is the Port of Hueneme’s secret sauce?

There are many pieces that enable smooth operations, according to Lacayo.

“It’s like an orchestra,” she said.

The first factor is that, rather than transporting every kind of cargo imaginable, the port’s leaders have chosen to be experts rather than generalists, specializing in just two categories: automotive and refrigerated cargo.

Another factor is that the Port of Hueneme has partnered with other entities that own 550 off-port acres within about an 8-mile radius of the port. These sites are used for inspections and as terminal space, allowing Hueneme to quickly move cargo off port.

To prevent a shortage of chassis — trailer frames that carry shipping containers — from slowing operations, Hueneme requires carriers to provide their own.

Shipping experts say the port’s success may also be attributable to its size, because it operates at a smaller, more manageable scale.

“We can’t handle the large ships L.A. or Long Beach can handle,” said Lacayo. “But we’re not trying to be L.A., Long Beach or Oakland. We are the Port of Hueneme, and we’re just trying to help as much as we can with the sizes of vessels that we can handle.”

Born: Stara Zagora, Bulgaria

Hometown: Sofia, Bulgaria

Age: 40

Education: Bachelor of science in international business; minors in German language and global logistics and transportation, College of Charleston in South Carolina. Master of Business Administration, Saint Mary’s College of California in Moraga.

Occupation: Chief commercial and public affairs officer for the Port of Hueneme, which handles $11.39 billion in trade annually

Top trade partners include: South Korea, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, Guatemala, Nicaragua, China, Peru, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Ecuador

Top agricultural exports: Potatoes, cotton, fresh apples, pears, cheese and curd, citrus