With the arrival of three new container cranes from Shanghai last month, the Port of Oakland is anticipating increased cargo throughput. According to Omar Benjamin, the port's executive director, Oakland had a 30 percent increase in its maritime cargo imports and an 11 percent increase in outbound cargo exports compared to a year ago. “There are glimmers of economic recovery on the horizon,” Benjamin said. “And people are beginning to feel the negative news of the past several months beginning to thaw and give way to better days.” In a letter to shippers, Benjamin also noted that Union Pacific Railroad recently opened its Donner Pass route located in the Sierra Nevada mountain range to domestic double-stack intermodal container freight traffic.