Port congestion and extended rail container stoppages in the Pacific Northwest appear to have peaked for several weeks and are expected to ease later this month. In the meantime, however, shippers will be forced to deal with delays in shipping multiple consignment containers to inland destinations.
In recent weeks, rail container stops at the Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA) Maritime Terminal in Seattle and Tacoma have doubled as the volume of multi-type consignment container shipments increased during the import peak season.
Because of concern for Canadian Truck Drivers Union Railway Workersas well as dock workers in the eastern and gulf coast at the end of the monthIssued as soon as the contract expiresWith the threat of strikes, retailers are shifting some of their freely available imports to the Pacific Northwest portal.
Based on S&P Global“Business Magazine”According to data from sister company PIERS, US imports from Asia in July 2024 increased by almost 51% compared to July 2023. The surge in imports has strained the capacity of the Western Railway and the NWSA's dock operators.
“There is no model that can adapt to this fluctuation without causing disruption,” said Lawrence Gross, president and founder of Gross Transportation, rail industry analyst, and founder of Gross Transportation last week.Business Journal said.
SSA Marine's rail container stops at three Seattle-based docks are now six days, three to four days above the normal three to four days, as the docks have five temporary vessels operating their original docking at Tacoma, an SSA spokesman said. “As a result, SSA's average rail traffic has doubled over the past month,” the spokesperson said.
Dustin Stoker, president of the Husky Pier, said that BNSF Rail containers had an average stay of five to six days at Takomahsky Pier this week, compared with four days for United Pacific (UP) containers. Port Authority Says Rail Container Stay Time Must Not ExceedTwo to four days,TO PREVENT CROWDING OF WEST COAST SHIPPING TERMINALS.
Although the dock has not received any additional cargo ships or ships transferred from other docks, Husky's imports continue to grow, Stocker said. Instead, it is simply a matter of increasing the number of regular ship stops, and trans-Pacific shipping companies have opened or resumed 10 routes to the West Coast this year.Including 3 Routes to Pacific Northwest, partly due to the threat of strikes in Canada as well as the eastern US and Gulf of Mexico coasts. As a result, the number of Inland Point Connection (IPI) containers shipped to Chicago via Seattle-Tacoma from January to July increased by 51% year-on-year, and the number of IPI shipments to Chicago by Yang Ming Sea increased by 34% year-on-year. Based on S&P Global “Business Magazine”According to sister product PIERS, Marsky launched a new service this year with almost 100% increase in IPI changes.
The port operator said that with cargo leaving Asia at the end of August arriving at the Pacific Northwest Gateway, import volumes are likely to remain at current levels in the coming weeks. While imports are expected to remain at higher levels in October, imports may have peaked, and pressure on West Coast ports and Western railways should start to ease later this month, Gross said. The railway company toldBusiness Magazine,They believe their network will be able to handle the amount of IPI in the future.
Jon Gabriel, BNSF's vice president for innovation, service design and network strategy, said in the third quarter to date, BNSF's IPI sales grew 60% from the same period last year, but shipments currently expected to be down 5% from last week.
“BNSF's eastbound and westbound trains operate in a basic balance, and IPI containers are in good condition to stop at their destination at the Midwest Rail Hub,” Gabriel said. BNSF has pre-deployed sufficient locomotives and transit vehicles in the PNW and Chicago areas to handle peak season traffic. Maritime carriers, port and dock operators continue to share advance information on freight volumes, with all parts of the supply chain running smoothly, and the wider supply chain is surprising.”
UP Spokesperson Tells Business JournalIt is successfully coping with Seattle-Tacoma's currently surging multi-modal freight traffic and continues to work closely with terminal operators and the Port Authority as rail handling approaches record levels. United Pacific Corporation's shipment volume through the PNW Port Complex in August 2024 was the highest since 2012.
