<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1668544249356,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000177-ab1c-dfb6-afff-bf5d00c50003","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1668544249356,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000177-ab1c-dfb6-afff-bf5d00c50003","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_58845904", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1060967"} }); ","_id":"00000184-7cfc-d2c9-a9e6-fefca9820003","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedThe crippling pandemic supply chain backup at Los Angeles ports is back to normal levels after reaching a high of 109 ships waiting off the coast in January.
“It’s been like taking 10 lanes of freeway traffic In Los Angeles and trying to squeeze it into five. You’re still moving a lot of cargo, but not enough compared to the demand,” Port of Los Angeles Chief Executive Gene Seroka said in May.
RECORD 100 SHIPS WAITING OFFSHORE AT LA PORTS
Now, the number of ships is in the single digits, Seroka told Spectrum News. The backup reached 100 ships in October 2021, while the docks also became problematic with containers piling up and trucks waiting hours for a chance to load cargo.
Los Angeles Port
A system was created to have the ships wait at sea in a line that stretched down to the Panama Canal as the chance to dock stretched to five weeks. The bottleneck has since disappeared.
“We’re probably at about 70% of normal capacity because a lot of cargo has moved to the east and Gulf Coast in the past two months,” Seroka said.
He praised an open relationship with the White House where officials place weekly calls with port, trucking, and railway officials to keep the cargo moving.
“Unfortunately, politics is in nearly every conversation here in the United States,” Seroka said. “But for the supply chain, the folks that work with us every day to feed, house, and clothe Americans, our responsibilities are great.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
If cargo can be moved quickly, it helps to keep prices of goods from going up, he added.
The port has moved 8,542,943 cargo containers so far this year, a decrease of 6% from the year before when operations went to a 24-hour schedule to relieve the backlog.
