The ongoing import surge continues to cause bottlenecks throughout the supply chain. For the week ending January 8, there were 35 vessels at anchor awaiting berths at Los Angeles/Long Beach. The terminals remain congested, and one carrier provided the below recap of the issues:
- Terminals are working with limited labor and split shifts (related to COVID-19)
- The labor shortages have a domino effect, with negative impact on:
- Trucker turn-around time
- Internal terminal transfers
- Number of daily appointments
- Lack of terminal space due to congestion
Delays are only increasing for rail operations at the terminals. Los Angeles, for example, is currently experiencing an average 16+ day delay. Furthermore, the capacity limits in some markets due to the volume increase and driver shortages are causing additional backlogs and delays. As a result of these rail delays, some carriers have limited their service to inland destinations and are prioritizing port to port bookings over bookings to inland U.S. points. Prioritizing port to port bookings will allow the carriers to get containers turned as quickly as possible and returned back to origin.
Noatum Logistics received the below metrics from one of our core carriers. The below provides current lead times to secure truck capacity to arrange container delivery (lead-time refers to securing of trucks, not the dwell time being experienced in the port or terminal):
Markets Averaging 12+ Days:
Savannah – Memphis – Baltimore – Atlanta – Norfolk – New York
Markets Averaging 7+ Days:
Boston – Cincinnati – Buffalo – Chicago – Kansas City – Tacoma – Seattle – Dallas – LA/LGB – Philadelphia – Houston – Council Bluffs – Charleston – Charlotte – Jacksonville – Miami / Port Everglades
Markets Averaging 4+ Days:
Cleveland – Columbus – Detroit – Indianapolis – Minneapolis – Pittsburgh – Birmingham – Greensboro, NC – Greer, SC – Huntsville, AL – Louisville – Denver – Santa Teresa – Laredo – Portland – New Orleans – Oakland
Regarding rail operations, congestion persists at all main terminals (T) and a number of key inland ramps. Please see below for current averages as of the first week of January:
Halifax – Average 5.9 days (T), 5 days at ramp: total 10.9 days
Montreal – Average 2.6 days (T), 6.1 days at ramp: total 8.7 days
Vancouver – Average 2.5 days (T), 12.9 days at ramp: total 15.4 days
New York – Average 6.1 days (T), 3.1 days at ramp: total 9.2 days
Charleston – Average 3.2 days (T), 3.2 days at ramp: total 6.4 days
Savannah – Average 4.9 days (T), 2.8 days at ramp: total 7.7 days
Norfolk – Average 3.8 days (T), 5.6 days at ramp: total 9.4 days
Kansas City – 7.2 days ramp
Chicago – 8.1 days ramp
Memphis – 5 days ramp
Council Bluff – 7.4 days ramp
Detroit – 6 days ramp
It is expected that this strong wave of imports will continue as long as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) forces North American consumers, in 2021, to spend their income on merchandise rather than on services such as dining, travel, and entertainment.
Noatum Logistics is working diligently on limiting these impacts for our customers. If you have any questions, please reach out to your Noatum Logistics representative.