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18.1 % from last year but still down 5.5 % from the same 2022 period .
“ October is still strong ,” said Sanjay Tejwani , CEO of trucking broker 365 Logistics . “ A lot of volume was [ diverted ] to the West Coast , so they ’ re still enjoying a strong October .”
Final rush of the year ?
Those “ strong ” October volumes followed record imports through Southern California in September and August that strained the system .
The average dwell time for containers leaving the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach by rail jumped to 9.25 days in September , the highest in two years , according to data from the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association ( PMSA ). Dwell times for containers leaving the Los Angeles-Long Beach complex by truck hit their highest level since October 2023 , but terminal operators say the 3.21-day average dwell is not contributing to congestion .
“ We ’ ve had about three times our normal inventory on dock for about six weeks now ,” Alan McCorkle , president of Yusen Terminals in Los Angeles , told the Journal of Commerce in mid-October .
Forwarders said their containers were sitting at some Los Angeles-Long Beach terminals for 10 days or longer before they could be retrieved .
“ The situation is bad , and it ’ s getting worse ,” said Stephen A . Nothdurft , vice president of sales / North America at the forwarder MOL Consolidation Service ( MCS ). “ As always , it ’ s a terminal-by-terminal situation .”
The rail and truck container dwell times as tracked by the PMSA vary widely from terminal to terminal based on their individual operating plans , the configuration of their on-dock railyards and the number of railcars positioned at their facilities .
Noel Hacegaba , COO at the Port of Long Beach , said the average rail container dwell at the port was seven days in September , up from four days in July but about two days less than the average dwell time for the entire Los Angeles-Long Beach gateway . Overall operations at Long Beach ’ s six container terminals remained fluid through the first half of October , he said .
“ We are busy , but not congested ,” Hacegaba said . “ We are at 73 % capacity and still have room to handle additional volume .”
“ We ’ ve had about three times our normal inventory on dock for about six weeks now .”
November is normally a slow month in the eastbound trans-Pacific because most holiday merchandise arrives at the ports by late October , giving retailers time to stock their shelves before the Black Friday sales that take place the day after Thanksgiving .
While that should be the case again this year , Los Angeles-Long Beach could capture a higher share of total US imports from Asia if the ILA contract negotiations drag on through November and December .
email : bill . mongelluzzo @ spglobal . com email : laura . robb @ spglobal . com
Trans-Pacific volumes are expected to slow in Q4 after growing more than 18 % through Q3 . Shutterstock . com
14 Journal of Commerce | November 4 , 2024 www . joc . com