Holiday shipments come to a halt at Long Beach

The cargo congestion comes at a busy time of year, with the holiday season just around the corner – something which has not helped matters, a spokesperson for the port told Port Strategy.

“We are in the midst of the peak shipping season, with imports heading across the country for the end-of-the-year holidays. Volumes are much higher than expected – very near the highest monthly totals ever.”

Last week saw seven container ships waiting at anchor because there were no open berths for them, the spokesperson explained. “Ordinarily it’s rare for container ships to wait an entire day at anchor. But some of these ships are waiting several days.”

However, it’s not the worst cargo pile-up the port’s ever seen. In 2004, “a dozen or more ships were backed up and at anchor many miles down the coast”, the spokesperson told PS.

A chassis shortage has been identified as one of the problems, so the port is working with chassis leasing companies to bring chassis to the region. But, it seems train and trucker shortages are also adding to the problem.

“There is greater demand throughout the economy and goods movement companies are racing to keep up. It seems almost inevitable now that some shipments may arrive in stores too late for this holiday season,” the spokesperson added.