Increased volumes, wildfires hampering USWC intermodal operations

Seasonal surges in cargo demand, along with wildfire risks in California, have increased dwell times and slowed rail operations on the U.S. West Coast, according to an advisory from ocean carrier Maersk Line.    Slowdowns in intermodal rail service on the U.S. West Coast are affecting Maersk Line’s inland transport operations, according to a North American customer advisory from the Danish ocean carrier.
   Dwell times at West Coast ports are increasing due to increased import volumes from seasonal demand and pre-Chinese New Year cargo, Maersk said in an email Friday.
   “This volume surge has placed a temporary strain on the rail network, hampering efforts to resupply rail cars back to West Coast ports,” the advisory said. “Each respective rail vendor servicing the west coast is maximizing efforts to manage the flows and minimize the impact of the increased volumes, but we expect this trend to continue for approximately two additional weeks.
   “To be transparent, we’d like to advise you that you may experience longer than normal terminal dwell through this period,” added Maersk. “Please rest assured that we will advise you upon the rail vendors returning to normal levels of productivity.”
   BNSF Railway said over the weekend that increased market demand and seasonal volume surges have impacted its intermodal facilities in Southern California and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. Furthermore, the rail line stated that California facilities remain at risk for wildfire activity as high winds and dry conditions continue throughout the state.
   Although they have not significantly impacted cargo operations, the wildfires have already claimed at least 40 lives – with many more still unaccounted for – and hundreds of homes throughout California. Firefighters said good progress was made over the weekend on two of the larger blazes, however, so the hope is that the worst of the damage is behind them.
   “BNSF continues to closely monitor this ongoing situation and is working with other rail carriers to address any disruptions, including the re-routing of some trains,” the railroad said. “We are working together to reduce the amount of time that your container/trailer dwells at a BNSF facility will improve overall traffic flow and lift capabilities to support growth.”
   However, BNSF also said that “most areas of the BNSF network will experience favorable operating conditions during the upcoming week.”
   According to BNSF, other ports and facilities in California are able to handle the volume surges due to rail enhancements made earlier this year. Capital expansion projects in Los Angeles were completed this summer with plans for similar enhancements to get underway at its San Bernardino facility in 2018 as well. The rail line recently extended production tracks, support tracks and added parking at its Alliance Intermodal Facility in Dallas-Fort Worth this year, though it won’t be operational until November, the company said.
   Other major railroads in the region appear to be handling the volume increases well enough, with Union Pacific posting relatively stable dwell times and capacity handling. Canadian Pacific, however, reported an average dwell time of 6.8 hours, up from 6.2 hours the week of Sept. 29 and 6.3 hours the week of Sept. 22.
   According to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting, estimated weekly allocated capacity on Asia to U.S. West Coast routes has increased 7.3 percent from October 2016 to October 2017.