North America - Operational Updates

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:

There are currently 23 ships (-2) at anchor awaiting berths in LAX/LGB as of Friday April 9th. All terminals continue to suffer from severe congestion due to the spike in import volumes. Changes of destination (COD's) and container "dig outs" are restricted due to limited terminal space. Customers are urged to continue to expedite the pickup of import containers and inform any COD requests at least four days before the start of vessel operations. While most of the port employees are participating in the COVID-19 vaccination program, the terminals continue to work with limited labor and split shifts (COVID-19 related). The demand for available labor affects all terminals turnaround time for truckers, inter terminal transfers, the number of daily appointments available for gate transactions and generates delays in vessels operations.

Due to terminal congestion, there can be switching of vessel terminal assignments. This must be kept in mind if doing OOG and overweight bookings that are supposed to be going on dock but end up in the wrong terminal or the UP off dock terminal. Hapag-Lloyd is currently shut out at most terminals facing extremely limited single empty return options and restricted mainly to dual transactions. Trucking continues to be delayed due to limited trucking power generated by terminal congestion and COVID-19. This situation affects all door and ramp intermodal moves.

The UP rail has limited the access to many US inland ramps due to capacity constraints and railcar shortages. This has created a serious backlog in many on/off dock rail services ex SoCal to many destinations and is generating delays of more than two weeks into some inland ramps

Oakland Terminal Update:

Currently there are 24 ships (+12) at anchor or drifting in the San Francisco Bay area as of April 9th. One of five berths at OICT remains unavailable due to new crane deployment. It is expected to be available end of May*.

Labor demand remains high in the port due to increased imports and vessels diverting to Oakland as first port of call. Yard re-handling and re-stows on vessels due to change of rotation and additional empty lift out of LAX/LGB is creating further delays. Export receiving is strictly controlled causing pain points for truckers, however this is mainly due to vessel schedule integrity. All berths remain occupied

New York Terminal Update:

Currently there is no berth congestion impacting vessel arrivals. Dwell times for import volumes and terminal yard utilization continue to be higher than normal. Terminal gates are being metered where necessary to steer empties to facilities which have available capacity.

Savannah Terminal Update:

Currently 9 ships (-1) at anchor as of April 9th. The river has remained open with good weather all week, which will assist to bring down the number of ships and days waiting for a berth. Wide beam vessels lead to scheduling conflicts and additional coordination with one vessel in the river at a time. The yard and gate operations remain fluid.

Canadian Terminal and Rail Delays Update:

Terminals:

High yard utilization at all terminals in Vancouver as a result of high import volumes. Expected to last well into Q2. Vessel productivity and yard productivity continue to improve, along with stable rail car supply, which resulted in increased fluidity on terminal. We continue to experience berth delays in VAN of 3 to 7 days. Prince Rupert (PRR) yard productivity and berth availability continues to improve.

Dwell time at the Port Terminals:

• Halifax – 3.8 Days
• Montreal – 3.1 Days*
• Vancouver – 3.0 Days*
• Prince Rupert – 8.5 Days*

Rail:

Car supply into Vancouver has improved significantly and import dwells remain below average.

Dwell time at the Rail Terminals:

• Montreal – 1.9 Days*
• Vancouver – 2.8 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 below (Note: Lead time refers to timeframe to secure truck power, it is not dwell time):
Market / Average 12-days+:

• Los Angeles, CA (30 days +) - Long Beach, CA (30 days +) - Atlanta, GA (15 days) - Baltimore, MD (14 days) - New York, NY (12 days) - Norfolk, VA (14 days) - Savannah, GA (15 days)

Markets / Average 7-days+:

• Boston, MA (7 days) – Buffalo, NY (7 days) - Charleston, SC (10 days) - Charlotte, NC (8 days) – Columbus, OH (7 days) - Dallas, TX (8 days*) – Houston, TX (9 days*) - Jacksonville, FL (7 days*) – Kansas City, MO (10 days) - Louisville, KY (8 days*) - Miami/PT. Everglades, FL (7 days) - Philadelphia, PA (8 days*) – Seattle, WA (7 days) – Tacoma, WA (7 days) - Salt Lake City, UT (7 days*) - Memphis, TN (10 days*)

Markets / Average 4-days +:

• Birmingham, AL - Chicago, IL - Cincinnati, OH - Council Bluff, IA – Denver, CO - Greensboro, NC - Greer, SC - Huntsville, AL - Indianapolis, IN - El Paso, TX* - Laredo, TX - Minneapolis, MN - Oakland, CA - Pittsburgh, PA - Portland, OR - Santa Teresa, NM - New Orleans, LA - Saint Louis, MO*

Chassis Pools:

Current chassis pool operations are improving in many markets. Below are the current locations where chassis inventory remains a concern. Shippers are urged to return containers to help improve the availability. Over 5000 chassis have been injected into various chassis pools across the US to keep up with the influx of imports. Repair vendors are working overtime and weekends to keep up with the requirements to provide safe and reliable assets.

• New York (USNYC) – Deficit on 40’ chassis due to demands.
• Chicago (USCHI) – Constrained on 20’ chassis, deficit on 40’ chassis due to surge in demand.
• Cincinnati (USCVG) – Constrained on 40’ chassis due to demand.
• Columbus, OH (USCMH) – Constrained on 20’ chassis due to demand/street dwells.
• Louisville (USLUI) – Constrained on 20’ chassis and deficit on 40’ chassis due to street dwell.
• Detroit (USDET) – Deficit on 40’/45’ chassis due to demand and street dwells.
• Oakland (USOAK) – Constrained on 40’ chassis due to surge in demand.
• Los Angeles / Long Beach (USLAX/USLGB) – Pool of Pools seeing deficits on all chassis inventory in all terminal locations

Railway Operations:

Please Note: Current average dwell times for Hapag-Lloyd boxes at several terminals / ramps. Includes, MH, rail and truck moves.

• New York, NY - Average 7.1 days
• MMR New York (Elizabeth Marine Terminal-Rail) – Average 5.3 days
• Long Beach, CA – Average 7.8 days*
• Los Angeles, CA – Average 8.7 days*
• Charleston, SC – Average 4.0 days*
• Savannah, GA – Average 5.6 days*
• Norfolk, VA – Average 4.3 days*
• Kansas City, MO – Average 8.5 days*
• Chicago, IL - Average 5.7 days
• Memphis, TN – Average 2.7 days*
• Detroit, MI – Average 6.0 days*