Container lines servicing the US trades have been able to improve transit times in the last three months with notable improvements in particular on the route between China and the US West Coast, according to a latest report from the digital digital freight forwarding platform Shifl.
Transit times on the Trans-Pacific trade, especially the US East Coast, have been impacted since the start of the year due to the decision by shippers to reroute shipments to the East Coast to avoid long delays on the West Coast, said the report, according to which the significant delays which were built up in the first quarter of the year appear to have reduced month-on-month since a peak in April.
“The average time it takes to sail from China to New York is now 46 days. While significantly higher than the pre-pandemic average, it’s a notable improvement from the peak of 50 days recorded in April,” points out Shifl.
Transit times from China to US West Coast ports, by contrast, were down marginally to 32 days, which is down from the peak of 50 days recorded in December 2021.
“Relatively speaking the transit time between Los Angeles and China is still twice the time it would take the same vessel to transit the route prior to the pandemic,” commented Shifl.
Comparing the two routes, ships calling to the US East Coast have been relatively less impacted by the congestion issues that have been felt over the past two years as it is currently taking 1.7 times more time to sail from China to New York time when compared to sailing times pre-pandemic, according to the report.
Meanwhile, there is a current build-up of empty containers in the US, which has put pressure on some ports for space and chassis which are being used as storage facilities.
Shifl said in its report that “In a bid to avoid a build-up of empties caused by the imbalance in trade between China and the US, ports like New York and New Jersey have announced the implementation of a quarterly container imbalance fee that will come into effect on 1 September. The new charge intends to target ocean carriers who have excess empty containers stored in the port for long periods.”
According to Shifl’s data, the gate-out times for full import containers have increased. After stabilising at five days in the last three months, the average gate-out time for full import containers in Los Angeles was up in July from five days in June to six days in July. In New York, the number of days it takes to ship a container out of the port was steady at four days but still up from a low of three days in May.
