Dwell Time in December

December 2023

Contact: Natasha Villa

nvilla@pmsaship.com

Showing significant continued progress, container dwell times at the San Pedro ports have dropped once again.

On a positive note, the consecutive monthly decline in dwell times, appears to have fully resolved following a 25-month long congestion period which peaked this time last year as 109 ships awaited berth off the coast of Southern California’s ports.

During the month of December, local containers leaving the terminals by truck remained at terminals for an average of 2.6 days, the lowest since June 2020. Additionally, only 6.7% of containers remained on terminals for more than five days.

For rail-bound containers, the average dwell time in December was 4.9 days, a significant reduction from November. Rail cargo velocity has shown major improvements.

“On a less positive note, while the San Pedro ports have reported significant declines in volumes and it is evident in container dwell time, in recent months, West Coast ports have experienced an acceleration in the loss of import market share as shippers bypass California ports for Gulf and East Coast ports”, stated Jessica Alvarenga, Director of Government Affairs for the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association.

Lower container dwell times is an indication of the improvement in cargo flow and speed. San Pedro ports are no longer handling record cargo volumes but are ready to handle more.