Summary
- Freight piling up in U.S. West Coast ports
- Lack of chassis, rail and truck driver capacities holding up inbound transshipment
- 221% U.S. tariffs on Chinese-made chassis effectively rule out chassis imports
- U.S. chassis makers unable to boost production capacity to meet this demand
Containers dwell-time for Long Beach, Los Angeles, Seattle and Tacoma
According to project44 data, inbound weekly container dwell times had hit the port of Seattle particularly hard in mid-August averaging more than 13 days briefly before dropping again to just under 5 days for the first week in September while the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Tacoma continue to linger at 5-7 day average dwell times. Outbound POL container dwell times remain particularly high at Southern California ports nearing nearly 2-week averages. The outcome: containers piling up by the thousands in West Coast ports, detention and demurrage fees rising across the board, higher ocean freight costs impacting shipping-reliant U.S. companies, and many consumers probably missing out on Christmas presents as peak shopping season nears.
Disclaimer: The data referenced in this report is sourced from project44’s freight visibility platform, based on the logistics indicators that the platform tracks. The sample data sets referenced do not include all freight movement data tracked by other entities. Data from project44’s platform reflects a statically significant sample size to draw conclusions.