
Facts & Figures
Latest Volumes
July 2025 TEU report: LA and Long Beach hit record volumes while Oakland and Vancouver surge. Explore U.S., Canada & Mexico port trends.
USWC ports see steep drop in China trade—imports down over 25% and exports off more than 65% since pre-COVID levels.
California truckers face record diesel prices, paying 35% more than Houston and far above East Coast and Gulf Coast averages. Diesel for drayage in California tops $5/gal, driving up trucking costs at LA, Long Beach, and Oakland ports.
June 2025 TEU data reveals key shifts in U.S., Canadian & Mexican port volumes, West Coast shares, and global container trade trends.
The story behind 53-foot containers on U.S. highways—how the 1982 STAA law and Rep. Glenn Anderson changed trucking forever.
West Coast ports see volatile market share in U.S. container trade as tariffs, labor risks, and East Asia imports drive shifting cargo flows.
Normally, the Port of Los Angeles is the nation’s busiest container gateway. Still, from time to time, the Port of New York/New Jersey (PNYNJ) lays claim to the title, invariably causing the East Coast media to break out the celebratory sparklers. The contest for the nation’s top container port is typically framed in the media as a rivalry between PNYNJ and the Port of LA, the Yankees vs. the Dodgers, if you will.
On July 9, the National Retail Federation’s Global Port Tracker projected that 2.06 million TEUs laden with goods from abroad would arrive in June at the thirteen U.S. mainland ports it surveys.
Explore whether the U.S. West Coast’s share of container trade is declining, examining recent trends, stats, and implications for port competition.
Through the first five months of 2025, containerized export tonnage from U.S. West Coast ports to China and Hong Kong plunged by 42.1% from the same period a year earlier and by 61.4% from the same months in 2019.
Once upon a time, Japan was the primary overseas trading partner of the ports that now operate as the Northwest Seaport Alliance. Indeed, Japan was the leading U.S. trading partner for containerized cargo, according to a 1980 report from the U.S. Maritime Administration.
Exhibits 1-3 display the May TEU counts for the North American ports PMSA monitors. (Note that May figures for the Port of Baltimore were unavailable by our publication deadline.) At the remaining U.S. ports, the year’s fifth month saw the number of inbound loaded TEUs decline by 6.4% from a year earlier to 2,018,951 TEUs as confusion over tariffs prompted importers to slow the build-up of inventory.
Discover the latest preliminary container volumes for May 2025, revealing emerging shifts in port trade dynamics. This update highlights trends across major West Coast, East Coast, Gulf, and Canadian ports, offering a snapshot of loaded and empty TEU activity.
Trace the journey of America’s favorite fruit—from tropical plantations to supermarket shelves. This article delves into banana production, shipping logistics, and trade dynamics shaping the fruit’s path to your grocery cart.
Explore West Coast tree nut exports in this data-rich analysis. From almonds and pistachios to walnuts, discover port-specific volumes, top global destinations, and how tariffs and logistics shape California’s vital agricultural trade.
Dive into a data-driven analysis of how container trade is reverting to long-term patterns. This article examines historical norms, trends in empty vs. laden TEUs, and what these shifts reveal about global trade stability and U.S. export competitiveness.
April 2025 container data reveals shifting trends at North American ports, with West Coast gateways seeing modest growth and Gulf ports continuing to outperform. Explore key TEU stats and trade insights.
Everyone knows that importers striving to avoid impending tariff increases brought in a passel of products during the first quarter of this year. In every media outlet from print newspapers to gubernatorial podcasts, images depicting seaport operations are used to frame reports about the nation’s foreign trade.
At the U.S. ports we track, the year’s third month saw the number of inbound loaded TEUs increase 11.6% from a year earlier to 2,276,719 TEUs as the prospect of higher tariffs spurred importers to load up on inventory. Collectively, outbound loads from those same U.S. ports edged up by 3.6% from March 2024 to 1,123,083 TEUs.
U.S. West Coast ports saw a drop in containerized import market share this spring. Explore shifting coastal trends, export transport modes, and 2024’s trade data breakdown.
Track August 2025 container dwell times at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Local truck dwell averaged 2.73 days and rail dwell improved to 4.98 days, reflecting efficient cargo flow and strong supply chain coordination at the nation’s busiest port complex.
July 2025 dwell times at the Ports of Los Angeles & Long Beach stay efficient — truck dwell ~ 2.87 days, rail ~ 5.18 days — despite record-breaking cargo volumes.
Explore June 2025 dwell time data for the San Pedro Bay ports. Learn how improved rail and truck cargo movement at the Ports of LA and Long Beach reflects continued operational efficiency.
May 2025 dwell times at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach held steady, with rail cargo averaging 4.70 days and truck cargo just under 3. Learn how consistent terminal operations are supporting resilient supply chains amid global trade uncertainty.
Dwell times at the San Pedro Bay Ports improved in April 2025, with rail-destined cargo averaging 4.72 days - the lowest since April 2024. Truck-bound containers remained stable at 2.78 days for the twelfth consecutive month. This consistency reflects continued coordination and efficiency across the supply chain, even amid shifting trade volumes.
March 2025 dwell time data shows improved rail container movement at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, with rail dwell times dropping to 6.75 days and truck times remaining steady, according to PMSA.
Dwell Times
Reports & Studies
By Tim Jemal, CEO, Supply Chain Federation
A Ramboll study commissioned by the Supply Chain Federation finds California’s Warehouse ISR adds high costs with no emission gains—threatening jobs & supply chains.
By Gene Seroka & Mario Cordero, Port of Los Angeles, Port of Long Beach
Ports of LA & Long Beach propose ‘CAAP Plus’—a cooperative, enforceable plan to cut port emissions faster than SCAQMD’s PR 2304 rulemaking approach.
John Wolfe, CEO for the Northwest Seaport Alliance
Recently the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma and the Northwest Seaport Alliance released a first of its kind collaborative effort to measure the statewide economic impact of our Puget Sound ports. From the airport, to our marine cargo gateway, from the fishing fleets to the ecosystem of industrial lands that support all our port’s activities, these ports have a regional to global impact.