About 35,700 import containers were waiting for rail loading at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as of Oct. 26, as record cargo volumes and reported railcar shortages slowed inland movement and extended container dwell times.
What Happened
Citing a compilation of the ports' daily rail reports, the report said 35,688 containers were awaiting rail service on Oct. 26, of which 10,562 had been on the terminals for at least nine days. The figures count individual containers, not twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs).
The two ports differed sharply: at Los Angeles, 8,133 of 19,626 rail-bound containers had waited nine days or longer, or about 41.4%; at Long Beach, 2,429 of 16,062 reached that threshold, or about 15.1%.
Dwell times rose across the port complex. According to Pacific Merchant Shipping Association data, average rail-container dwell increased to 7.19 days in September from 6.75 days in August, while average dwell for containers leaving by local truck rose to 3.18 days from 2.95 days. Both ports handled record monthly volumes in September, with Los Angeles processing about 1.04 million TEUs and Long Beach 997,177 TEUs.
Background
The association linked longer dwell to an extended peak season and heavy cargo flows. A freight broker's October market update identified Southern California intermodal railcar shortages as a constraint, saying limited equipment availability was extending import dwell and slowing inland movement. Empty-container repositioning also complicated equipment flows, while truck-destined containers moved relatively normally.
Port executives said rail moves were slowed by an imbalance between import and export traffic, but noted a significant increase in westbound train assets over the past three weeks. Long Beach said average rail dwell remained under five days, though some smaller inland rail hubs were seeing longer delays than major destinations; a planned on-dock rail facility aims to cut ship-to-rail transfer time from four days to 24 hours.
The report also noted potential labor pressure: an employer association warned that a possible Nov. 1 strike by about 250 port watchmen could affect eight container terminals.
Impact on Shippers
For cargo entering through Los Angeles and Long Beach and moving inland by rail, shippers may face additional waits of several days to more than a week, particularly for shipments to smaller inland hubs; local truck moves are less affected. Longer dwell can raise terminal storage and related costs and tighten railcar and drayage capacity at times, affecting subsequent booking and dispatch arrangements.
Customs clearance procedures themselves are unchanged, but pickup and container-return schedules are disrupted. Shippers should watch free-time and demurrage/detention start dates to avoid extra charges from rail queues.
Recommendations
Shippers moving cargo through U.S. West Coast gateways should confirm rail connections and estimated pickup times with their forwarders in advance, evaluate local truck pickup or alternative ports for time-sensitive cargo, and check bills of lading, clearance documents and free-time terms. Build in buffer time and follow official updates on terminal operations and labor negotiations.