To keep you better informed of the current operational situation occurring in the U.S., we would like to provide you with the following updates.
Vessels continue to be pushed further off the proforma schedule causing blank sailings, and the continuous increase of import volume within the past two years has affected operations in almost all areas of the country, creating delays.
Outlook for this year shows high import volumes through October with the back-to-school season followed by the holiday season goods, caused by the increasing demand for products driven by expected rising prices, these situations may worsen congestion and storage capacity.
Traffic at Busan port has been affected by a trucker’s strike that began on June 7th. This event impacted several industries of the South Korean economy, including logistics and transportation.
The current events in Ukraine are impacting vessel routing, schedules, ports, and rails, especially in Eastern Europe, aggravating delays and congestion.
The situation of severely congested ports in New Zealand and Australia is affecting vessel routings and schedules from US West Coast.
With all of the recently mentioned events, there is a high number of container vessels currently congested at different ports around the world, affecting logistics services overall.
Container availability in the USA is tight in the areas of the South Atlantic Coast and Gulf Coast.
Limited trucking and equipment availability worsen the challenge across the supply chain.
Terminals Updates:
Due to increased volume and labor shortage, most terminals are experiencing congestion issues, including Los Angeles/Long Beach, Savannah, Charleston, Miami, Houston, and Seattle.
Each month, high cargo volumes continue to enter the U.S., with most North American ports facing berthing congestion.
Some carriers are omitting ports and altering schedules for services on US East Coast due to high congestion and delays.
U.S. East Coast:
New York/New Jersey: Vessel wait time up to 3 days due to high import volume and severe port congestion, with an average of 14 vessels a day, the highest number since the COVID-19 pandemic started, delaying the overall service. Congestion is mainly due to an almost 12% of the increase in import volume during the first quarter of the year compared to the same period of 2021. Also, the rising movement of empty containers has contributed to slowing down operations; about 120 thousand empty boxes are clogging the yard, a figure that is double the usual number.
Savannah: Vessel wait time is up to 10 days due to high import volume and port congestion.
Miami: Vessel wait time is up to 4 days due to high import volume and bad weather.
U.S. West Coast:
Import loaded cargo is up 22% for Asia Pacific origins in weeks 21 and 22 compared to the previous two weeks, mainly explained due to Shanghai operations returning to normality and resuming production in China.
Long Beach: Vessel waiting time is up to 18 days due to high import dwell and labor shortages.
Los Angeles: Vessel waiting time is up to 15 days due to yard congestion, high import dwell, and labor shortages. The port of Los Angeles processed more than 967 thousand TEUs in May, the third-best month in its history. This increase is mainly explained due to exports which were up 14.3% compared to May 2021. Imports were 21% higher than the previous five-year May average.
Seattle: 2-day vessel wait time due to high import volume and labor shortages. Containers can sit for up to 2 weeks in a closed area at the terminal, depending on the congestion at each terminal, until truckers can pick them up.
Oakland: up to 10 days of waiting time for containers from Asia and 10 days from Germany due to high import volume, labor shortages, and one berth down. 90% of yard capacity is being used. Ships looking to berth in Oakland will now wait offshore, which will delay operations. The backlog is caused mainly due to a massive number of empty containers in terminals waiting to be returned to Asia.
U.S. Gulf Coast:
Houston: Waiting time is up to 10 days due to high import volume, labor shortage, and port congestion.
Rail Terminal Updates:
Increased terminal dwell due to surge of import volume and labor shortage are the main challenges affecting rail services.
Rail dwell times at Los Angeles and Long Beach increased from three days in December 2021 to over nine days in April 2022.
BNSF & UP/LAX/LGB: There is severe congestion. Limited gate capacity, restrictions, rail car shortages, and limited reservations continue, causing increased delays on import rail units. There is limited allocation currently. In Los Angeles, containers wait an average of almost 16 days before being picked up.
Chicago Rail Ramp: The rail facilities in Chicago are experiencing severe congestion due to dwelling containers and chassis shortages. There are gate restrictions and lane suspensions, causing extended delays in pick-ups and deliveries. The rails continue to monitor in-gates with allocation or reservations.
CSX Bedford Park: Limiting reservations for in gate to rail.
NY/NJ: Chassis shortage includes rail ramps due to the high increase in import volume.
Philadelphia: Severe chassis shortages in the Philadelphia area. Extended delays in pick-ups, deliveries, and drayage.
Charleston: Lack of chassis causing extended delays in pick-ups, deliveries, and drayage over to rail facilities.
Savannah: Continued congestion and delays at the local ramps. Shortage of chassis and equipment continues to affect operations.
Jacksonville and Miami: The shortage of equipment in Florida has carriers struggling to keep the service due to a slower turnover of import containers coming into the area. Most loads have been delayed an average of one to two weeks. Equipment shortages are resulting in pick-up delays.
Seattle: Congestion due to increased dwell for Import rail cargo. Up to 10 days delay for cargo going to Chicago. Most truckers are booked 2 weeks or more in advance with limited trucker capacity. Local terminals are extremely congested, all import containers are moved to a closed area for about 6 weeks. Transit time from Japan which is the closest port to the Pacific Northwest is around 62 days.
Houston/Dallas: There is a severe chassis shortage and ongoing congestion in the area. Finding truckers has become a challenge as they are booked for 2-3 weeks in advance.
Chassis issues are challenging in all regions in the U.S. This is due to the division of the intermodal system and the lack of additional capacity at different levels of the supply chain.
Source: Shipco Transport Inc.
