The amount of time that cargo containers linger at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach appears to be decreasing, according to new data released Oct. 14 by the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association.
The length of time that a container stayed on the docks before leaving by truck was 4.2 days in average in September, trimming the average by nearly a day from 5.1 days the previous month.
Meanwhile, the average dwell time for cargo at terminals before departing by rail – while still a high average – was also down in September from the previous month, from 16.5 days in August to 15.5 days in September.
The amount of containers parked at the ports for five or more days also dropped in September, according to PMSA. For truck-bound cargo, about 15.8% of containers stayed past five days last month. That’s less than the 24.1% in August.
For rail-bound boxes, 66.3% of them stayed more than five days in September, dropping from 71.9% the previous month.
“September was the first month since December 2021 in which dwell time, for both local and rail-bound containers, was down from the month before,” PMSA Government Affairs Manager Jessica Alvarenga stated. “Container dwell time is a reliable metric to identify efficiency in the supply chain. It is encouraging to see dwell time finally declining and efficiency improving.”
