The number of container ships waiting for berths outside the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach fell to a new low this year, down 81 percent from a peak in January. However, the traffic on the land side of the port is still congested, there is a backlog of containers in railway transportation, and the vacancy rate of warehouses is about 0.3%. In addition, delays at ports in the eastern United States have intensified, with shipping companies reporting ship delays of up to three weeks.
According to the latest data from the Port of Los Angeles' official website, as of June 28, there were 20 container ships waiting to be berthed outside the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, a drop of 81 percent from the peak of 109 in early January this year. Currently, the total number of imported containers on the Port of Los Angeles terminal is 72,567, of which 28,256 are stranded at the terminal for 9 days or more; the number of empty containers in the terminal and off-dock yards/warehouses is 48,746.
Bloomberg reports that the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are handling the influx of goods as retailers stock up on back-to-school and vacation supplies, while railroads and warehouses remain congested.
▪ For rail transport:
The Port of Los Angeles recently received help from the White House to clear a backlog of railroad containers. The number of containers transported by rail at the port has tripled since February, taking up terminal space and causing congestion. As of yesterday, there were 29,020 containers at the terminal waiting to be shipped by rail, of which 17,613 had been waiting nine days or more.
Major railroads are grappling with labor issues and two years of unsuccessful talks with unions could force the White House to intervene to prevent a strike, the report said. More than 115,000 railway workers working on more than 30 railways will go on strike as soon as July 18 after unions rejected a binding mediation proposal from the National Mediation Council. Next, U.S. President Joe Biden may appoint a presidential emergency committee to resolve the dispute.
▪ Warehousing:
Gene Servoka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, told a conference of port commissioners last week that the vacancy rate at storage facilities in Southern California is currently about 0.3 percent, compared with as high as 5 percent during normal times. "We can't build these facilities fast enough, and even though we have 2 billion square feet of land from the Pacific coast to the deserts of Southern California, we have to get things out faster and have enough space to Manage all these consumer products and manufactured products."
▪ For trucking:
More than half of the Port of Los Angeles' truck gates sit idle during off-peak hours due to inconsistent staffing and operating hours at the terminals and off-port distribution centers, coupled with a lack of warehouse space.
Matt Schrap, chief executive of the Port Freight Association, said truckers who transport about 70 percent of U.S. freight volumes are reluctant to enter ports during off-peak hours because parts of the supply chain typically don’t operate 24/7. Before bottlenecks, truckers could pick up containers in the early morning and store them in truck yards until the warehouses open, but now those yards are filled with empty containers and trailer chassis.
In addition, contracts covering about 22,000 dockworkers at nearly 30 West Coast ports, including Los Angeles and Long Beach, will expire on July 1. U.S. Labor Secretary Martin Walsh said Tuesday that talks with unionized West Coast port workers on new contracts are progressing well with no major points of disagreement before existing contracts expire this week.
Ships delayed for up to three weeks at eastern U.S. ports
Maersk recently issued an announcement saying that in the past month, the operating conditions of the East US ports have changed, affecting the waiting time of ships at various ports. Some ports are increasingly congested, with more ships than terminal capacity, and long stranded containers are causing a shortage of yard space.
Maersk also shared the current delays at major ports in the eastern United States: The PNCT container terminal at the Port of New York/New Jersey has the worst delays, with container ship waiting times of up to three weeks; the Port of Houston up to two weeks; the Port of Savannah has the greatest delays Time ranges from 8 to 12 days; 3 to 5 days for both the Port of Miami and Freeport, and 2 to 3 days for the Port of Charleston.
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