Container dwell time at San Pedro showed progress for the month of January

January 2022

Contact: Natasha Villa

nvilla@pmsaship.com

Dwell time at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach began the new year in a positive direction with container dwell time decreasing from the high levels observed in previous months. Prior to the pandemic related surge, container dwell time averaged under 3 days. Through 2021, however, average dwell time increased substantially and remained well above historical levels, with a record high of 8.4 days in November.

Container dwell time tracks the time between unloading of a container onto a terminal, and the departure of that container. It is also a good metric to look at efficiency and the rapidity of container pickups upon arrival to our ports.

For the month of January, containers leaving on trucks remained on terminals an average of 6.8 days, down from 7.8 days the month before.

For containers leaving on rail, the average was 3.5 days, slightly up from 3.3 days the month before.

“Our marine terminal operators have handled record volumes over the last two years, and we hope to see the decline in dwell time continue by discontinuing the practice of using terminals as warehouses,” explained Jessica Alvarenga, Manager of Government Affairs for the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association.