U.S. West Coast ports, specifically Los Angeles and Long Beach terminals have received unprecedented volumes and are experiencing extreme congestion prior to the Lunar New Year. Containers are reportedly sitting longer than normal, and once the containers are out-gated, many are staying out longer than normal. These delays are contributing to chassis shortages in the area.

Some of the contributing factors:

Strong market conditions and increases in volume prior to the implementation of tariff increases.
Carriers have added 12 extra loader vessels and 3 up-sized vessels calling the LA/LGB port complex over the balance of 2018. The extra loader vessels are expected to transport an additional 128,000 TEUs of freight over the coming weeks. Many of these vessels are calling terminals outside of the normal alliance pattern, which could result in disruptions in chassis availability because of the mis-positioning of containers and chassis.
Lingering effects of the typhoons in the Eastern Pacific.
Warehouses across the region have all but reached capacity.

Actions being taken:

Carriers are encouraging customers to pick up their containers as soon as they become available and return them back to the designated terminals as quickly as possible.
Based on forecasts, the carriers have advised this situation may continue until early February 2019.
MIQ Logistics will continue to monitor any service delays and/or routing changes that can impact transit times. We will provide updates as they are available.

For more information, please contact your local MIQ Logistics representative.