Container delays by rail increase at busiest U.S. ports

The modest month-to-month decline in truck dwell suggests that local drayage operations and terminal gate activity remained relatively fluid despite the high cargo throughput.

Truck dwell measures the average time containers remain at marine terminals before pickup by local trucking providers. At 2.95 days, August’s figure was in line with the performance seen during much of the previous year, indicating that terminals continued to turn local cargo at a comparatively stable rate.

The steadiness in truck dwell is notable because the San Pedro Bay complex relies heavily on drayage to move containers to Southern California warehouses, distribution centers, transload facilities and nearby rail ramps. Maintaining dwell below three days reduces pressure on terminal yards and helps preserve appointment availability and chassis circulation.

Rail cargo faces added pressure

Rail dwell reached 6.75 days in August, a 0.41-day increase from July and a high point relative to the past year. The figure indicates that containers moving inland by rail remained at terminals for nearly a week on average before departure.

The slowdown comes after Class I carriers serving the ports, Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) and BNSF (NYSE: BRK-B), saw their network performance slow in late spring on a then-modest surge of import traffic. That lead observers to question how UP would handle the vast amount of freight it claims it would win over from trucks if its proposed merger with Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) is approved by regulators.

The divergence between truck and rail dwell highlights the importance of intermodal performance to overall cargo fluidity at Los Angeles and Long Beach. A significant share of containers arriving at the gateway is destined for inland U.S. markets, including major distribution regions in the Midwest and South, making the reliability of on-dock and near-dock rail service a key factor in terminal productivity.

Pacific Merchant Shipping Association officials said terminals and transportation providers were continuing to adjust operations as cargo patterns evolve.

“Cargo volumes moving through the San Pedro Bay ports remain strong, with truck dwell holding steady and rail dwell experiencing some additional upward movement,” Natasha Villa, senior manager of public affairs for PMSA, said. “Marine terminals, drayage providers, and rail partners are adapting to changing cargo patterns to maintain fluid operations, demonstrating the strength and resilience of our supply chain in the face of continued global uncertainty.”

The August results suggest the ports’ local delivery network has so far absorbed strong volumes without a material deterioration in truck-side performance. But the higher rail dwell figure will remain a closely watched measure for beneficial cargo owners, ocean carriers, railroads and terminal operators heading into the fall shipping period, when sustained cargo demand could further test inland intermodal capacity.

Why it matters: Rising rail dwell at the busiest U.S. maritime gateways  can signal a growing bottleneck in moving imports beyond Southern California to inland markets, even when local truck flows remain stable.

Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

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