US Container Ship Queue at 8 Vessels, 41% Below the Five-Year Median

Both major import complexes, LA/Long Beach and NY/NJ, are reading Flowing as early summer peak-season positioning begins. The ships-awaiting-berth count across all US container ports is 8 ships per MARAD, 41% below the five-year median, unchanged week-over-week. At LA/Long Beach, 1 ship awaited berth per MARAD and the Marine Exchange, near the complex's trailing-12-month normal of 1 ship.

• Savannah ships awaiting berth: 2 ships (MARAD), 43% below the five-year median, the steepest relative gap in this week's read.
• LA/Long Beach truck planning-time index (BTS): 4.07, flat vs the complex's trailing-12-month normal of 4.07, within the Flowing band.
• NY/NJ truck planning-time index (BTS): 3.82, 4% below the five-year median and near the complex's trailing-12-month normal of 3.97.
• Houston loaded imports (port authority, latest available monthly release): 188,276 TEU, 19% above the five-year median, the largest relative beat among major ports.
• LA/Long Beach loaded imports (port authority, latest available monthly): 868,221 TEU combined, near the complex's trailing-12-month normal of 831,195 TEU, with Long Beach at 418,851 TEU (16% above the five-year median) and Los Angeles at 449,370 TEU (10% above the five-year median).
• Seattle/Tacoma loaded imports (port authority, latest available monthly): 87,186 TEU, 16% below the five-year median, the soft outlier in the current monthly read.

NY/NJ loaded imports (port authority, latest available monthly): 340,365 TEU, near the complex's trailing-12-month normal of 372,973 TEU.

Vessel dwell at berth from BTS is an archived national series through mid-2023. No current vessel-dwell figures are in this digest. Monthly TEU volumes are the latest available port-authority releases and typically lag the reporting month by several weeks.