Breaking

LA-Long Beach ports grapple with 35,700-container rail backlog

A severe backlog of containers awaiting rail service has built up at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Nearly 35,700 import containers were sitting on terminals as of late October, reflecting record cargo volumes straining rail capacity at both facilities. At Los Angeles, 8,133 of 19,626 rail-bound containers had waited at least nine days. Long Beach reported 2,429 of 16,062 containers exceeding the nine-day threshold. Average rail-container dwell time reached 7.75 days in August across the port complex, while truck-destined containers averaged three days. September saw record volumes, with Los Angeles handling 3.04 million TEUs and Long Beach processing 997,177 TEUs. Rail equipment shortages and empty-container repositioning constraints are hampering inland movement, though truck-destined cargo continues flowing normally. BNSF and Union Pacific operate rail services at the Southern California complex.