West Coast Ports Clearing Backed Up Import Volume

West Coast retail container ports are getting back to normal after clearing backed up cargo volume. The Global Port Tracker report by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates said that March volume was at a record high following February’s tentative agreement between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

“Dockworkers and management made a massive push to clear the backlog of cargo over the past several weeks and West Coast ports are getting back to normal despite concerns such as the Teamster picketing seen in Los Angeles and Long Beach earlier this month,” said NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold. “We hope to see this month’s ratification vote go smoothly and then settle into a long period of efficient, dependable operations before we have to think about contract talks again. But there are still plenty of other issues impacting congestion that the ports need to work through.”

The union is scheduled to count votes on the contract on May 22.