North American ports

JOC.com readers are eating up news emerging from the U.S. West Coast, with all of the Top 10 stories on the site in the past week focusing on congestion and labor issues at the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Tacoma and Seattle.

The executive director of the Port of Los Angeles called upon the Pacific Maritime Association, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, terminal operators and PierPass Inc. to do everything within their power to clear out the congestion that is devastating the Southern California port complex.

Port authorities, ocean carriers, terminals and shippers are paying closer attention to operational metrics such as truck turn times to guide their decisions on where to route cargo or deploy ships.

Roads and highways connecting to the Port of Oakland are on track for upgrades after Alameda County voters this week approved a sales tax hike that will fund $7.8 billion worth of transportation infrastructure improvements.

U.S. Federal Maritime Commission Chairman Mario Cordero expects congestion at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to ease in the next couple weeks, but, in the meantime, he said the agency is scrutinizing the PierPass program.

A committee of the Port of New York and New Jersey’s industrywide Council on Port Performance expects by year-end to decide between two competing chassis-pool models for “gray” chassis in the port.

The Port of Boston's volumes are up 10.5 percent year-to-date, thanks to a unique incentive program for union workers and some extra vessel calls.

Cargo backlogs at the ports of Seattle and Tacoma are mounting due to work slowdowns by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, threatening vessel arrivals scheduled for the weekend.

Seven container ships on average have been anchored in the waters off the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach since Oct. 27, as the congestion crisis at the largest port complex in the Americas continues.

The port of Long Beach said its truck turn times have been better than those at Los Angeles for at least four months.

APM Terminals dropped its plans for a 50-50 joint venture for its Elizabeth, New Jersey, container terminal after the port authority set unacceptable conditions for the deal, said Eric Sisco, president of APM Terminals North America.

Long truck lines and a shortage of skilled labor plagued the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach Tuesday, adding to the ports’ already deep congestion problems and instilling fears among importers and exporters of potential gridlock at the largest U.S. port complex.

Congestion at the port of Los Angeles hasn’t been as bad as congestion at Long Beach in the past six months, according to a Hong Kong-based logistics software provider.

The busiest U.S. port complex, Los Angeles-Long Beach, which handles more than 14 million 20-foot container units of cargo each year, is experiencing its worst congestion in 10 years. This slideshow analyzes 12 factors contributing to that congestion and possible solutions.

Shipper frustration with Los Angeles-Long Beach port congestion is rising, with importers and exporters complaining of added costs and making plans to divert cargo away from Southern California.

Six container ships were anchored in the waters off the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach this morning, down from nine yesterday afternoon, but that’s not necessarily a sign that gridlock at the largest port complex in the Americas is improving.

Shippers are enduring the worst bout of congestion at Los Angeles-Long Beach in years, but some analysts who follow container shipping say the situation will soon improve.

The mix of container ships backed up off the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach is changing but the total count isn’t, suggesting the congestion crisis at the busiest U.S. port complex isn’t improving.

A record-breaking year for Port Everglades is only the beginning, port director Steve Cernak said, as the East Coast's second-fastest growing port is embarking on several projects to add capacity and service bigger ships.

A whopping 97 percent of shippers surveyed by JOC.com say they have been hurt by congestion at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and most expect the pain to only deepen.

The four companies that control about 95 percent of the chassis at Los Angeles-Long Beach agreed on Thursday to develop a neutral, or gray chassis pool for the largest port complex in the Americas, with the phased rollout to begin on Feb. 1, 2015.

One of the largest U.S. shipper groups is throwing its weight behind an effort to convince PierPass to temporarily waive millions in fees to ease the pain of congestion at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex.

The Port of Jacksonville’s first dedicated Asian container terminal opened in 2009 — just as U.S. consumer demand plunged because of the global recession. Now the promised Asian container traffic boom is starting to become a reality with volume up 20 percent year-over-year in the port’s fiscal year ending Sept. 30.

Despite nine months that included historic congestion, rumblings of diversions and the lack of a West Coast port contract, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach nabbed a bigger piece of the West Coast volume pie through the first three quarters of 2014.

Port congestion has gotten so bad in Los Angeles-Long Beach that harbor truckers are imposing congestion surcharges of $50 to as much as $100 an hour, and retailers and other beneficial cargo owners are paying the extra charges if the alternative is that they will not get their containers that day.

Congestion at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach could result in the realization of a long-time goal at the Port of Oakland: becoming the first U.S. West Coast call for inbound cargo from Asia.

Adding to other recent evidence that congestion at Los Angeles-Long Beach is worsening, Hapag-Lloyd Wednesday announced delays to multiple services and said the overall situation “has reached a critical point.”

JOC Senior Trucking Editor William Cassidy describes the current congestion crisis at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and its impact on inland distribution in this video from the JOC Inland Distribution Conference.

U.S. retailers are pressuring PierPass to temporarily waive at least $9 million in fees to give shippers some relief from severe congestion at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex.

Congestion continues to plague Los Angeles-Long Beach despite efforts by terminal operators to remain open longer and use all longshore labor at their disposal.

Eleven container ships were anchored off the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach on Sunday, the most waiting at one time in San Pedro Bay in two years, as gridlock persisted at the largest container gateway in the Americas.

Video of veteran JOC West Coast Senior Editor Bill Mongelluzzo describing congestion at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and the many factors causing it.

Importers and exporters can mitigate supply chain disruptions, such as the terrible congestion in Los Angeles-Long Beach, but their planning must begin months in advance, attendees at the JOC Inland Distribution Conference were told Friday.

Terminal congestion at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach was clearly on the minds of JOC.com readers again this week, with six of the Top 10 stories focusing on the issue.

Sensing an opportunity from the woes of Southern California, Oakland says it should be considered an attractive port for diversions from Los Angeles-Long Beach.

Kansas City Southern Railway is talking with ocean carriers and beneficial cargo owners about diverting shipments bound for the U.S. Gulf region away from congestion-wracked Los Angeles-Long Beach to the Port of Lazaro Cardenas in south-central Mexico.

While the Port of Tacoma reported year-over-year growth in container volumes in September, Seattle suffered another month of double-digit volume decline.

The Port of Tampa Bay is hoping the addition of two new post-Panamax cranes will usher in a "new era" for the port's container business.

Some say the current gridlock at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach is on par with the most severe disruption the ports have seen in the past two decades, but Art Wong, spokesperson for the Port of Long Beach, told JOC.com today that the current congestion ― while serious ― is no where near that bad.