Congestion Recovery: 2 to 3 Months
Since the recent contract agreement with the ILWU and PMA, the long process begins for the West Coast ports to recover from the backlog of containers and vessels that have inundated their operations the past several months.
From JOC:
Industry experts agree that it will take months for Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma — all among the 10 largest ports in the U.S. — to return to “normal” operations.
Even then, the old normal will not be good enough to accommodate the cargo surges that occur each week as vessels with capacities of as many as 14,000 20-foot containers descend upon West Coast ports. In fact, the brutal irony of the ILWU work slowdowns, and the PMA’s response of restricting night and weekend work, is that these actions compounded problems that were already occurring anyway because of the arrival of big ships operated by expanded carrier alliances.
On the Port of Oakland website and in addition the local union work stoppages over the weekend, it stated that it will take Oakland and other West Coast ports six to eight weeks to recover from the cargo backlog. Some industry analysts might say three months is a more realistic goal.
Superior Freight Services, Inc. will keep you up-to-date on the West Coast ports status. Check www.supfrt.com/news
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