The length of time containers lingered at San Pedro Bay ports were higher in July than the previous month, according to new numbers released by the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association.
The average time containers stayed on a terminal in July was 5.2 days, higher than the 4.76 days in June. The number of containers that lingered past five days was 26.7% in July, which was up from 23.6% in June, according to PMSA.
“The high cargo volumes continue, warehouses remain at capacity, and cargo owners are not picking up containers in a reasonable time,” said Jessica Alvarenga, manager of Government Affairs for PMSA.
Meanwhile, the length of time cargo containers stayed before departing by rail dipped slightly with an average of 11.3 days in July, which fell 11.8 days in June. About 53.4% of those containers were at terminals for more than five days, a 63.8% drop from the previous month.
The PMSA is attributing the congestion to the COVID-19 pandemic-related surge.
“Despite all of the challenges the entire supply chain has been experiencing with record volumes and related congestion, our terminal operators and dockworkers continue moving cargo in and out of America’s busiest ports,” Alvarenga said.
