Last-mile congestion! US intermodal rail yards clogged

Recently, due to congestion in the Chicago area rail network, containers that should have been shipped to the Midwest have been stuck at ports, and due to a variety of factors, the intermodal rail yards in the Chicago area are in a state of congestion .

The congestion is mainly due to a persistent backlog of containers and cargo, as well as a shortage of rail cars due to delays. It started in February when the New York and New Jersey terminals were closed for five days due to weather conditions. According to some reports, Norfolk Southern is still dealing with this backlog.

Then there are the merchants importing goods from Asia, bypassing the West Coast to avoid delays, choosing to import through East Coast ports , which has led to a rise in East Coast imports , with Norfolk Southern 's intermodal volume increasing by 12.4% in March. According to data from the North American Intermodal Association in January and February , the volume of units moving out of the Northeast and Midwest increased by 13.6%, while national intermodal volume increased by 9.3%.

At the same time, more and more containers continue to pour into Chicago from Pacific ports, exacerbating the congestion in the rail yard. The congestion on the tail-end transportation line is stuck in the "last mile" for merchants, and many merchants also choose to turn to truck transportation.

So despite the significant increase in truck freight costs , truck traffic from the East Coast to the Midwest has continued to increase . According to Tom Boyd, Maersk's North American communications manager , intermodal business on this route from APM Terminals' Port Elizabeth container facility directly to CSX has been running well.

In addition , last month, a lot of cargo shipped to the ports of Charleston and Savannah was stuck in Memphis . Because the two first-class railroads in the area have decided to limit the number of containers on trains departing from Memphis . The surge in the number of import and export containers has caused congestion pressure, and they have to take such measures to relieve it.

The backlog of ships at ports has led to overflowing container yards and a shortage of rail cars , exacerbating delays. Bad weather in February also contributed to the shortage .

The combination of these factors has doubled railcar turnaround time to about 10 days. Average dwell time for rail containers has been rising in February, according to the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, a group of transport companies and terminal operators .

U.S. rail volumes increased 16.1% year-over-year in the week ended March 26. Intermodal units increased 25.8% after rising 2.3% the prior week.

And such an increase will not fall back in the short term . According to the National Retail Federation of the United States, retail sales will increase by 6.5% to 8.2% this year, and it is expected that it may hit a record high at least until June . Therefore, solving the congestion at the end of the journey will still be an issue of concern to everyone in the near future.

logistics

American Railroad