Ports report high volume as holiday shopping gears up

From Transport Topics. As the nation’s retailers and shoppers gear up for the holiday shopping sprint, two of the nation’s busiest ports, Los Angeles and Long Beach, say they are making progress clearing up the tens of thousands of shipping containers that have been backlogged at their facilities. The Port of Los Angeles processed 902,644…

trucks on highway

From Transport Topics.

As the nation’s retailers and shoppers gear up for the holiday shopping sprint, two of the nation’s busiest ports, Los Angeles and Long Beach, say they are making progress clearing up the tens of thousands of shipping containers that have been backlogged at their facilities.

The Port of Los Angeles processed 902,644 20-foot-equivalent containers (TEUs) in October, an 8% decrease compared with October 2020 — the busiest October on record. Year-to-date, overall cargo volume remains 22% ahead of year-ago levels.

“Amid the array of challenges facing the supply chain, we continue to deliver more cargo than ever,” Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said. “The National Retail Federation is forecasting a record holiday season as many outlets such as Walmart, Target and Home Depot report strong sales.”

Recent NRF data support this outlook. The group said retail sales in October rose 16.3% year-over-year as consumers began their holiday shopping early, attempting to avoid shortages amid the pandemic-driven supply chain disruptions that dominated businesses and shoppers this fall.

Officials at the California ports said that since Oct. 24, they have reduced the number of empty import containers to 65,080 from 94,851. Containers sitting in the marine terminals for nine days or more have dropped 35%, to 24,361 from 37,410.

See the complete article online at Transport Topics.

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