West coast ports from Los Angeles to Seattle faced slowdowns on Monday, a continuation of job actions by dockworkers that began Thursday, leaving goods stranded and flows disrupted, as the union and the port owners continue to wrangle over renewing a contract that expired in July.
Peel-off stacks, dedicated piles of 50 containers or more, are a great port congestion solution if you’re a mega shipper like Walmart, but less so if you’re an SMB. But now smaller players can have freight consolidated to create peel-off stacks. Bryn Heimbeck of Trade Tech talks about a pilot project at the port of Los Angeles/Long Beach.
Retail imports based on cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to decline year-over-year for the next few months but the first half of the year should still amount to a 4.5% increase compared with the same period last year, according to the National Retail Federation.
At the same time, import volumes are returning to West Coast ports after the labor issues that plagued the first half of 2015. Busy East Coast ports like New York and New Jersey saw large spikes in the double digits last year, as shippers sought alternate means to ensure product delivery, even if it meant significantly longer transit times.
While cargo is flowing back to West coast ports after labor issues were settled, it’s growing faster at East and Gulf ports as shippers weigh their options.