Construction projects around the West Coast ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach (LA/LB) and strong import volumes are causing delays to rail and freight shipments in and out of the port, market participants told ICIS.
A player told ICIS it is planning for two additional days of lead time for product coming through the ports.
Another market participant said the delays are adding three to four days to already extended lead times.
The following chart from the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA) shows dwell times for truck and rail at the port complex through September.
Local truck dwell in September was 3.18 days, up from August’s 2.95 days, while rail dwell was 7.19 days, up from August’s 6.75 days.
One reason for the delays is preparations by California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for the 16-month closure of the Vincent Thomas Bridge (State Route 47), which serves an average daily traffic of 53,000 vehicles/day, with nearly 9% of the daily traffic being heavy trucks.
The bridge will close on 7 November for a rehabilitation project that will include a replacement of the bridge deck.
During the closure, Caltrans will minimize local traffic impacts through a combination of infrastructure improvements, manual traffic control strategies, and enhanced communication efforts.
Traffic control officers will be deployed to 18 key intersections in the area to monitor and manually facilitate traffic flow, and local police will expand commercial trucking enforcement.
Motorists will be detoured primarily along Interstates 710 and 110, State Route 103, and Harry Bridges Boulevard, as shown in the following map.
Caltrans conducted local road improvements on the project’s detour routes, including the resurfacing and striping of roads and intersections, installation of traffic cameras, and placement of temporary traffic signals.
Another reason is the record volumes coming through the ports.
The Port of LA handled 1,042,652 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) in September, the busiest month in its 118-year history and more than 20,000 units more than the previous monthly record set in July 2025.
Loaded imports reached 545,696 TEUs in September, up 19% compared with last September.
Loaded exports totaled 125,751 TEUs, up 10% compared with last September.
Empty containers were about 371,206 TEUs, the highest monthly total in Port history.
The Port of LB handled a record-setting 997,177 TEUs last month, eclipsing the previous record of 987,191 TEUs achieved in October 2024.
Imports last month soared 31.3% to 509,390 TEUs, exports increased 7.8% to 91,747 TEUs, and empty containers rose 22.1% to 396,040 TEUs when compared to the same month in 2025.
During the first nine months of 2026, the Port handled nearly 8.1 million TEUs, more than 3% ahead of the same period last year.
The Port of LB has announced extended gates at terminals in the evenings and on Saturdays, which will continue for six weeks excluding the week of Thanksgiving.
POSSIBLE LABOR ISSUES
About 250 port watchmen at the ports of LA/LB might go on strike this weekend, which could bring operations to a halt at eight terminals in the port complex.
Members of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 26 have authorized a strike.
Watchmen make up only 2% of ILWU workers at the two ports but work at terminals handling roughly 85% of Long Beach’s cargo and 33% of Los Angeles’ cargo.
The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents employers, expects other ILWU members would honor picket lines, potentially halting vessel, yard and gate operations at affected facilities.
Container ships and costs for shipping containers are relevant to the chemical industry because while most chemicals are liquids and are shipped in tankers, container ships transport polymers, such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), which are shipped in pellets. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is also shipped in containers.
They also transport liquid chemicals in isotanks.
