Dwell Time trends Upward for Rail cargo and Downward for Local Cargo

May 2022

Contact: Natasha Villa

nvilla@pmsaship.com

Through May, container dwell time at San Pedro Bay ports increased 18% for rail-bound cargo and decreased 13% for local cargo departing on truck.

Container dwell time – the amount of time a container stays at a marine terminal after it is unloaded from a vessel and taken off the premises by a truck or by rail – is an important metric for measuring the efficiency of the flow of containers through the ports.

For the month of May, containers departing on trucks remained on terminals for an average of 5.3 days, down from 6.09 days the month before. Containers bound for rail remained on terminals an average of 11.3 days, up from the already very high average of 9.6 days in April.

“Dwell times remain high in comparison to the two - three-day average before the pandemic related surge, however; it is good to see dwell time declining for local cargo stated Jessica Alvarenga, Manager of Government Affairs at the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association. “Terminals are constantly unloading incoming vessels and need terminal space to do so. Terminals are not storage facilities for aging cargo, and shorter dwell times are vital to keep cargo flowing,” explained Alvarenga.