Port of Virginia thrives despite East Coast congestion

The Port of Virginia has set another record for its most productive July ever. Coming in at 318,000 TEUs in July, the port moved over 24,500 TEUs more than July of 2021, an increase of 8.4%. As the fourth consecutive month handling over 317,000 TEUs, the upgrades at the port are showing how benefitted the throughput has been by infrastructure investments. With ten new vessel services in the last twelve months, five of which came in the last five months, the port is ready to meet the moment as cargo capacity reaches critical levels on the east coast.

Those critical levels are part and parcel of the congestion we’ve seen as record imports head to the US from Asia. An influx of cargo caused delays in Los Angeles and Long Beach as ships were queued in San Pedro Bay last summer. As many shippers moved cargo to arrive on the east coast, the ports of NY/NJ and Savannah, GA have seen their numbers climb. Without the throughput power of the west coast, where 40% of Asian imports arrive in the US, the smaller ports are struggling to keep up with the overflow and likely will not bounce back as fast as LA/LB did. Considering the congestion in LA was due to more than 100 ships waiting for service, NY/NJ are only at 20, Savannah is at 40, and Houston only 25 – a huge explainer of the ability of LA/LB to handle the huge numbers, even when it gets crazier.

As we discussed earlier, the Port of Virginia is working to create the cargo corridor running from the east coast through the middle of America by rail before hitting the west coast or being diverted to warehouses and distribution centers along the way. This enables clients to bypass congested ports and find their way to the final destination without delays.

Your Nelson representative is hard at work creating customized solutions to all of your cargo issues. We have you covered if you need to plan for west coast cargo diverted east. Contact us today and learn how we’re keeping cargo on track!