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U.S. Ports See Costly Delays as Cargo Ships, Volumes Grow
Hat tip, Trainorders: WSJ: U.S. Ports See Costly Delays as Cargo Ships, Volumes Grow
U.S. Ports See Costly Delays as Cargo Ships, Volumes Grow
By Arian Campo-Flores and Cameron McWhirter
April 29, 2015 4:41 p.m. ET
PORTSMOUTH, Va.—The Port of Virginia, one of the nation’s largest, was built to handle high volumes of cargo traffic entering and exiting the U.S.
But on his way recently to pick up a load of bedding, Albert Newcomb was stalled for two hours before his rig could make it through a mile-long line to one of the port’s terminals. Once inside, the 43-year-old independent truck driver hit a traffic jam 13 lanes wide and 10 trucks deep. By the time he left with his load, he had waited for a total of eight hours. “It’s ridiculous,” he said, as he sat in his truck idling outside the gates. “It’s almost to the point where you want to quit.”
A key reason for the holdup: a surge of containers from three large ships at dock was straining the port’s capacity and tying up dockworkers and cranes.
Such congestion is becoming increasingly common at major U.S. ports—a problem that could have profound implications for the $900 billion worth of goods transported to and from the U.S. each year by container ships.
April 29, 2015 4:41 p.m. ET
PORTSMOUTH, Va.—The Port of Virginia, one of the nation’s largest, was built to handle high volumes of cargo traffic entering and exiting the U.S.
But on his way recently to pick up a load of bedding, Albert Newcomb was stalled for two hours before his rig could make it through a mile-long line to one of the port’s terminals. Once inside, the 43-year-old independent truck driver hit a traffic jam 13 lanes wide and 10 trucks deep. By the time he left with his load, he had waited for a total of eight hours. “It’s ridiculous,” he said, as he sat in his truck idling outside the gates. “It’s almost to the point where you want to quit.”
A key reason for the holdup: a surge of containers from three large ships at dock was straining the port’s capacity and tying up dockworkers and cranes.
Such congestion is becoming increasingly common at major U.S. ports—a problem that could have profound implications for the $900 billion worth of goods transported to and from the U.S. each year by container ships.
