Rail dwell time reached a new high in July

July 2022

Contact: Natasha Villa

nvilla@pmsaship.com

Through the month of July, containers slated to depart the San Pedro Bay ports via rail remained on terminals for an average of 16.40 days, up from the already very high average of 13.3 days in June and 11.3 days in May. 16.40 days is the highest average dwell time observed since PMSA began tracking this data. Containers bound for local departure via truck remained on terminals for an average of 5.62 days, up from 5.5 days the month before.

Container dwell time is defined by the time in between when a container is unloaded from a vessel to the time it is loaded onto a truck or railcar for departure. It is a useful metric that provides insight on efficiencies at multiple parts of supply chain.

“High dwell time affects the efficiency of multiple supply chain partners. Old containers take up space on the terminals, making it difficult to unload vessels faster, it takes longer to get to a specific container and put it on a truck if it is under a pile of old containers, which then also delays the time it takes to get truckers out on their way,” explained Jessica Alvarenga, Manager of Government Affairs for PMSA. “The increasing container dwell times infer containers are not getting picked up in a timely manner and that is causing delays for other members of the supply chain.”