Why Your China Freight Shipping to USA Delays?

To ensure a safe distance during the epidemic, the number of port dock workers decreased, resulting in worsening congestion at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. According to sources, container ships at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach may face further delays in the coming weeks (or even months).Poor congestion at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles

Poor congestion at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles
The two busiest container ports in the United States, the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles, experienced a sharp rebound in July. The port's cargo throughput increased significantly. Due to the impact of the new coronavirus pandemic, the cargo throughput of the two ports had been several months before. It has been declining.

In July, the 20-foot TEU throughput of Long Beach Port was 753,081 containers, a record high. In August, it dropped slightly to 725,610 containers, a year-on-year increase of more than 9%. The record level has forced some shipping companies to switch their scheduled berths between the two ports based on actual conditions.Some of the containers were transferred to the neighboring Port of Los Angeles, which set a record high of 961,833 TEUs in August.

In the past three months, the utilization rate of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has reached the highest level. The current influx of a large number of goods, the congestion of the two container ports in Southern California is even more serious than the situation in 2018 when shippers scrambled to catch up with the United States to impose import tariffs on Chinese goods. Congestion brings additional challenges, including demurrage fees, increased waiting time resulting in a significant reduction in local hauling capacity, and other charges required to collect containers at the terminal.

Port congestion also affects cargo transportation in LTL (Less Than Cargo), LCL (Less than Container Load), and IPI (Inland Transportation via the West Coast of the United States). Many shippers are experiencing severe delays in importing eastbound cargo to the West Coast. The paralysis of the CMA CGM system also exacerbated congestion. Cyber attacks have affected the ability to obtain information such as delivery numbers, arrival notifications, and cargo releases.

In Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, whether truck drivers can pick up containers from the terminals has become a problem.

Due to traffic jams, drivers cannot turn around as many times a day as before. Drivers said the waiting time has become longer and the appointment time has been reduced. Conflicts between ocean carriers, terminal operators, trailer suppliers, and consignment suppliers continue, all of which are based on operational issues with other parties. This contradiction continues to increase the demurrage of importers, because it is too difficult to find the root cause between the parties.

The trucking industry’s response to the increase in demurrage is to no longer accept delivery orders without demurrage exemption. They insist that importers, their brokers or freight forwarders pay demurrage directly. An American freight forwarder said: "Recently, due to weather reasons, delays have also been caused. There is currently no berthing location for ships. There will be more large container ships entering the port in the coming time. The situation will only get worse and there will be no enough ships. Faster unloading, reliability is getting worse and worse, which will eventually lead to greater pressure on the entire supply chain."