West Coast Port Delays 'More Noise Than Impact,' Flexport Executive Says

The delays at ports on the West Coast have been "a lot more noise than impact," affecting only a few terminals at a time for short periods, said Nathan Strang, director of ocean freight for U.S. Southwest and small and medium-sized businesses for Flexport, during a webinar June 8.

Closings or walking offs have happened at "one terminal for one shift or two terminals for maybe a shift and a half," said Strang during the webinar, hosted by Flexport. ""While that had a real impact if you were hoping to get cargo on Friday or Monday when things were closed, it is something that has "been recovered from really quickly," he said. "So if we expect that pattern to continue, we expect this to not escalate further into a coast-wide sort of situation. The type of delays that you're going to anticipate would be" those "one-day, two-day delays in picking up your cargo."

When asked about moving cargo to the East Coast, Strang said that was one way to respond if the risk from potential West Coast port closures was a problem, but it might not be the best solution for everyone. For instance, if rates are what is most important to you, "then the West Coast is still going to be most attractive," Strang said. But companies may choose the opposite coast if "you can take 10 more days of transit time, and you're willing to pay a little bit more in price to go to the East Coast and that makes sense for your supply chain and makes sense for where your cargo needs to go."

He added that shipping to the East Coast might also not be the ideal solution because the cargo may transit the Panama Canal, which will reduce draft to 44.5 feet this month, according to its website. While this will not affect everyone, cargo being shipped from East China mostly will go through the Canal, which could complicate things, according to Strang.

Strang said terminals in Oakland, Tacoma and Seattle "closed completely" on Friday, as well as terminals in Los Angeles and Long Beach, amid contract negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) (see 2306050077). Everything has been open since Monday, according to Strang.