In order to better inform you of the operational situation within USA and Canada, we would like to inform you that our Region North America - Operations & Customer Service Advisory notices are now posted directly to the website in the Offices and Local Information > North America > USA section. In particular, you can find them at the bottom of the Local Information page.
Those items where status has changed from the previous report are identified by an asterisk (*)
With the large number of congested ports and ships awaiting berths, please understand that the dates for arrivals / departures and cut-offs are constantly changing. Please check our Online Business section regularly for updates on this information.
Terminal Operations:
LAX/LGB Terminal Update:
The Southern California Marine Exchange has requested vessel operators to remain up to 150 miles off shore for safety concerns in the anchorage areas. Safety concerns are now paramount as we move into winter months with high winds. PMSA is working with USCG and industry to find new solutions to keep the number of ships drifting and at anchor limited. Ships are waiting average 13 days to catch a berth. Total anchorage + berth days for Oct has reached up to 23 days on some services. Both ports are seeing record volumes month after month that challenge the existing port infrastructure. Port Delays forcing ships to wait at anchor are expected to continue for the remainder of the year.
Port of Long Beach did test a 24/7 gate model, but was not successful to implement a full program. Gates are still running as published and in line with Pier Pass program. Imports wait for an average of 6.7 days for a truck to pick up, and street dwells are up to 9 days on average. Import rail dwell is up to 13 days in the terminal complex. Chassis pool of pools utilization is almost at 90%. All terminals remain extremely congested and limiting the windows for export cargo acceptance depending their specific situation. Hapag-Lloyd and the industry in general are facing limited single empty return options and many times these are restricted to dual transactions. Local trucking delays have been reduced and are being closely monitored given the lack of chassis affecting the industry. The scarcity of chassis is affecting all types of moves, from local deliveries to terminal moves to/from off dock rail ramps. The LAX/LGB rail operations from all terminals and the off dock ramps continue to deteriorate as demand exceeds capacity. Inland moves by rail are expected to continue seeing considerable delays.
New York / Philadelphia Terminal Update*:
New York:
High berth utilization and congestion continues at all terminals. During week 43 there was a high of 1 vessel reported at anchorage awaiting a berth.
Empty stock levels continue to rise at all depots / terminals. All options for reducing empty surplus are being explored. Maher Terminals, APM, and PNCT are offering a Saturday gate this week to facilitate increased import deliveries.
Savannah Terminal Update
There are currently 26 ships (-3) at anchor as of October 29th. The terminal capacity is at about 95% utilization. Ships are delayed up to 8 days average awaiting berth assignment. The new first come - first serve started Aug 28th is making no difference thus far. Berth congestion continues with minimum 26 ships at anchor this week (30 both Wed & Thurs). Ongoing projects - GPA's Peak Capacity project: which will add 800,000 TEUS of annual capacity in two phases. Phase 1, which opens mid-December (expansion behind 7-8-9), will deliver 3 new rubber-tired gantry crane rows. Phase 2, to be complete in spring 2022 will add a 4th RTG. Berth 1 (17% complete) on schedule expected open 2023. Dredging to be complete Jan 2022 (90% complete) - this does not affect berthing of vessels like it did a month ago - it is maintenance dredging only.
Gate running fluid - turn times 45 single / 67 multiple since Monday. Rail running fluid since Monday @48 hours dwell time - if no holds, 35 hours.
Seattle Terminal Update*:
There are currently 16 ships (+5) at anchor awaiting berth as of Oct 29th. Terminals are operating at 85% utilization. Berthing delays in Seattle are up to three weeks at this time due to heavy volumes.
Saturday gates at Husky are now being offered to alleviate backlog of imports through October. Husky is implementing a long stay import fee of 315.00/ctr for any import dwelling over 15 days. Fee must be paid to pick up load. Dual transaction requirement continues at terminals in Tacoma, while Seattle is allowing single transactions for HL. Additional space has been provided to hold empty and loaded containers at T-5 in Seattle and West Hylebos in Tacoma allowing some additional empty returns for Hapag-Lloyd. T18 in Seattle and Husky / WUT in Tacoma have started to pile import containers in inaccessible areas until there is additional space in the transrows as imports depart the terminal. HUSKY reports 0-2 days turn time in inaccessible areas and improving.
NWSA will begin dredging operations at WUT on 11/1 through 11/12. And then will move over to HUSKY. NWSA investments in T-5 are not slated to fully open until 2022 which will bring much needed additional capacity to the region. Chassis counts in Tacoma have improved, however the pool is running 80% utilization while street dwell is running 8.4 days for 40’ chassis.
To aid in import container availability some T18 import loads are being moved to T5; please check T18’s website for confirmation of availability and which terminal the container is located. LFD will be extended accordingly, please be patient while information is updated:
Houston Terminals Update:
Currently 6 ships (-2) at anchor as of October 29th. Barbours Cut terminal is currently down to 75% utilization. A labor committee is controlling labor assignments with only 12 gangs available. Port of Houston did not have to control the number of gangs per ship this week. No labor shortage were reported week 43.
Container dwell times are on the rise which exacerbates terminal capacity issues. PHA continues to move import containers to rail yard to make space on the terminal for working vessels. The rail yard is 40% utilized. Trial shipments utilizing the Barbours Cut ondock rail service has launched with a BNSF product. Hapag-Lloyd was able to load out containers to Dallas on this service. Terminal is experiencing critical equipment shortages for chassis, gensets and reefer plugs. Reefers are dwelling from inability to pick up for various reasons, including chassis and gensets.
Canadian Terminal and Rail Delays Update.
Terminals: Vancouver, Prince Rupert
GCT continues to work vessels on a first come, first serve basis as all services are experiencing delays. Schedule adjustments are required to avoid anchoring and berth conflict. Yard utilization is presently at 95% due to high volumes. Operations were shut down on Oct 25th due to severe weather, further impacting productivity.
Rail: Due to reduced rail velocity as a result of delayed vessels and bad weather which shut down the yard earlier in the week, daily rail production has been reduced to 30000ft per day, a reduction of 33% from the regular target.
Rail dwells are presently at 7.1 Days
Terminals: Montreal
The labor situation in Montreal continues to negatively impact timely operations of vessels. This is expected to continue in the short term. Vessels are also facing delays on the North Atlantic due to bad weather, resulted in delayed arrival.
Rail car supply is strong at all terminals however shortage of labor is impacting timely loading. Dwell for the past week is 2.9 Days.
Intermodal Dwell times:
Halifax: Average - 5.5 days
Saint John: Average - 1.5 days
Intermodal Operations:
Capacity limitation in certain markets due to import volume spikes and severe drivers’ shortage. Please find main markets, and estimate lead-time to secure capacity at the following link on our website. (Note: Lead-time refers to timeframe to secure truck power, it is not dwell time):
click here
Chassis Pools:
With the recent unprecedented Import volumes, there is currently a historically high demand for chassis throughout the USA. This demand has shown to be persistent on 40ft chassis and intermittent on 20ft chassis. In order to minimize any negative impact on supply chains, customers are asked to take immediate steps to reduce container and chassis off terminal dwell time. This includes all inland terminals as well as port terminals. Without a significant reduction in the dwell times, truckers may face serious challenges and delays in securing good order chassis as long as this surge in imports continues.
Railway Operations:
Please Note: Current average dwell times for Hapag-Lloyd boxes at several terminals / ramps. Includes, MH, rail and truck moves.