North American ports

U.S. shippers’ potential shifting of imports from the West Coast to the East Coast would give the major eastern railroads more business, but how much the railroads will actually benefit depends on how much of the cargo is destined for the Midwest.

Diversions from congested West Coast ports are helping drive traffic growth at the Savannah port, setting the largest U.S. southeast port to end its fiscal year with 14 to 14.5 percent more volume than in the prior year.

Recognizing the impact that port congestion is having on the ability of marine terminals to work container ships, the Long Beach Harbor Commission has extended a cap it had placed on dockage fees charged to shipping lines until June 30.

International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 13 President Bobby Olvera told the Long Beach Harbor Commission that dockworkers are committed to clearing out the worst container backlog to hit the Southern California ports in more than a decade, and wants to see the reputation of the ports restored.

Winter weather that closed the Port of Virginia for four days contributed to a $560,000 operating loss for the port authority during February.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are partnering with cargo interests, terminal operators, harbor truckers and the railroads to hasten the day when marine terminals become transit facilities rather than storage sites for containers.

The Port of Savannah’s volume of loaded containers in February jumped 8.6 percent from a year earlier as the Georgia Ports Authority posted across-the-board cargo increases.

Signs that the container logjam in Southern California is beginning to break are showing up on the truck spot market, as deconsolidated loads come up for grabs at West Coast warehouses.

The daily vessel report Friday from the Marine Exchange of Southern California demonstrates that the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are making progress in digging out from the congestion they experienced in recent months, but they still have a long way to go.

Near-unprecedented congestion in Virginia has prompted the state port authority there to reach out to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for permission to pay overtime for customs officers working extended operating hours.

The announcement last week by carrier alliances that beginning in late March they will deploy three new all-water services from Asia to the East Coast through the Panama Canal was a dagger to the hearts of West Coast ports besieged by congestion and labor problems.

New York-New Jersey port truckers are growing frustrated with delays accompanying a late-winter cargo spike that container terminals are struggling to handle.

The Port of Virginia is about to enter its second week of near-unprecedented congestion that has now spread to three of its four terminals on the Elizabeth River.

The ports of New York-New Jersey and Savannah have handled the first container ship to call on the U.S. East Coast with capacity of more than 10,000 20-foot-equivalent units.

The mayor of Newark, New Jersey, has renewed his call for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to provide more money for city-owned land the bistate agency uses for seaport and airport facilities.

The Port of Houston has ordered nine rubber-tire gantry cranes for container yard operations at the Bayport terminal. The order will bring to 69 the number of RTGs at the port.

Container volumes in Los Angeles and Long Beach plummeted in February as the ports faced another month of severe congestion and labor problems.

The trek toward full funding of for U.S. ports can look a lot like one step forward and two steps back.

Three carrier alliances are launching Asia-U.S. East Coast services that will increase capacity on the route by 6 percent, according to industry analyst Alphaliner.

Container volume at the Port of Oakland plunged 36.7 percent in February due to terminal congestion, labor issues and cargo diversion, but the problems that caused the loss of cargo are slowly receding.

The Port of Virginia is barging containers between terminals, keeping truck gates open on weekends and taking other steps to ease congestion that has delayed shipments and drayage drivers.

The Port of Charleston handled 125,549 twenty-foot-equivalent units of loaded containers in February, a 17.5 percent year-over-year increase, the South Carolina Ports Authority reported.

Most container terminals in the Port of New York and New Jersey will keep truck gates open Tuesday — a longshoremen’s union holiday — as they struggle to clear backlogs caused by high volume and bunched ship arrivals.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s attempt to lure shippers — from Bacardi to Ikea — away from California may not necessarily bring big business to the Sunshine State, but it will bring the national media attention that some say Florida ports need.

Longshoremen at Port of Houston’s largest container terminal are digging through a backlog of containers and will work well into the weekend after two vessels collided on Monday in the Houston Ship Channel, forcing the closure of the facility and leaving dozens of ships stranded.

For days now, trucks in Southeast Virginia have queued in hour-long lines, blocking highway exits and struggling to enter Virginia International Gateway, once prided as the most efficient container terminal in the state.

Florida's Gov. Rick Scott says he is amping up efforts to bring new business to Florida's ports, and he is set on taking business from the U.S. West Coast.

The hottest market for drayage this week may not be Los Angeles or Long Beach but New York and New Jersey, where shippers and brokers are scrambling to find power to move containers and trucks are backing up in long lines outside some New York-New Jersey port terminals.

Container traffic at the Port of New York and New Jersey jumped 7.8 percent year-over-year in January, an all-time record for the month and a reflection of how some East Coast ports are benefiting from diversions away from congested ports on the opposite coast.

Mario Cordero, chairman of the U.S Federal Maritime Commission, told the Harbor Trucking Association in Long Beach and TPM last week there is reason to believe that terminal operators will do their best to improve turn times at U.S. ports this year.

The largest container terminal at the Port of Oakland was shut down at noon Wednesday when, according to management, International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10 attempted to unilaterally impose manning requirements.

The Port of Virginia blamed a 1 percent year-over-year decrease in container traffic in February on severe winter weather and warned it was still grappling with cold and icy conditions that have brought down productivity.

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners agreed to extend until the end of September use of a near-dock storage yard for loaded and empty containers. The 30-acre site at the undeveloped Pier S facility was designated a temporary equipment storage yard and was schedule to close on March 31.

The Port of Houston’s largest container terminal was closed a second full day on Wednesday and so was part of the shipping channel it is served by, as authorities clear the mess caused by the Monday collision of two vessels.

U.S. retailers appear generally upbeat on their ability to deliver spring merchandise to stores, with some telling investors that U.S. West Coast port congestion has had minimal impact on their supply chains, according to earnings calls in recent weeks.

The Port of Houston’s largest container terminal was closed Tuesday until further notice after a tanker and bulk carrier collided on the Houston Ship Channel, causing a flammable chemical from the former to leak.

U.S. container exports plummeted 15 percent year-over-year in January as the West Coast labor standoff combined with a higher U.S. dollar and sluggish growth overseas created a sobering start to the new year for a key Obama administration priority

U.S. containerized imports this month are expected to rocket 16.9 percent year-over-year as West Coast ports make headway in reducing a massive cargo backlog caused by a labor showdown and retailers bring in spring merchandise, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker.

New Jersey legislators on Monday voted to send Gov. Chris Christie a bill to dissolve the bistate Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor and transfer its New Jersey operations to the state police.

After two weeks of working all-out to clear its worst congestion problem since 2002, the Port of Oakland on Friday reported reduced vessel backups and yard congestion, improved truck transaction times and better terminal productivity.