Build a buffer for congestion and delays

North America

Infrastructure improvements

There are several infrastructure projects scheduled in the next 12–18 months. Below are all approved enhancements that are ready to begin.

West Coast

Los Angeles/Long Beach (LA/LB)

On the West Coast, turn times continue to increase. The three main terminals (PCT, ITS, WBCT) currently average over 1.5 hours. PCT and ITS continue to be the most congested with 30% of transactions taking longer than 2 hours.

The Long Beach Container Terminal has addressed issues from December 2024 and has reclaimed its form as a top performing terminal in the harbor. However, terminal appointment availability continues to be a challenge across the harbor as terminal operators are optimizing operations by diligently metering the gates via terminal appointments.

Houston/Pacific Northwest

Expect operations to be business as usual at the Port of Houston. There have been minor reports of delays or congestion in scattered parts of the Houston metro, but that stems from crane movements and the influx of drivers trying to recover freight. Similarly, the Seattle and Tacoma ports are running smoothly with no delays or concerns.

Southeast

Charleston/Savannah

Lead times have increased significantly in Savannah and Charleston. Being able to provide a 48-hour lead time will be the best way to avoid missed pickups.

There are issues with chassis shortages within South Carolina pool equipment. This adversely impacts the Charleston market and may indicate a growing chassis shortage situation. These issues likely stem from buyers and suppliers working to get their equipment off terminals across both markets.

Jacksonville

Delays and driver availability are both impacting the Jacksonville region. The carrier community has reached out to terminal leadership at SSA asking about solutions and support to reduce congestion.

Atlanta

In Atlanta, the industry has faced significant congestion, especially since December 2024. Most regional carriers are requiring shippers to provide the last free date and pickup number before giving dispatch bookings.

Additionally, there are friction points at the ramps. NS Austell is increasingly dealing with a scarcity of available appointments to return/pull containers. Morning appointments are less problematic, while afternoon appointments are often subject to delays and postponements.

Central/Ohio Valley

Memphis/Kansas City

Chassis utilization is rebounding healthily in Memphis and Kansas City markets. According to NACPC, the KPOC pool is just over 70% utilization. Furthermore, efforts are being made to bring more chassis into the market to support demand. Demand is primarily for 40′ chassis, but there are also 20′, 45′, and 20/40′ combination chassis available for use. Currently, 97% of the pool is either available or in use status, with an out of service rate of only 2.6%.

Memphis/Nashville/Huntsville

This region is operating at 52% utilization. Nashville should have the most capacity out of the three locations. Memphis has a higher out-of-service percentage at 7.7%. NACPC is making an intentional decision not to bring that equipment into service or remove them from service in 2025.

The CSX ramp continues to be an issue in multiple markets. The CSX ramp in Nashville is equally subject to delays. In addition to the general chassis shortages, even carriers with private chassis are being denied and the rail will not move them. 

This helped me

Table of Contents