# LA/Long Beach port congestion The import-friction read at LA/Long Beach and the live metrics behind it _Data through Aug 25, 2026 · source last checked Sep 1, 2026 · page revised Sep 1, 2026_ > Import-friction read for LA/Long Beach: Flowing. Ships awaiting berth 0 ships (below its trailing-12-month normal of 1 ship). Truck planning-time index 2.19 (below its trailing-12-month normal of 4.07). Loaded imports 917,583 TEU (near its trailing-12-month normal of 831,412 TEU). The read is a rules-based summary of where these metrics sit versus their trailing-12-month normal, not a forecast. Ships awaiting berth eased to zero on 2026-08-25, below its trailing-12-month normal of one ship. The truck planning-time index fell to 2.19, well below its trailing-12-month normal of 4.07. Loaded imports stood at 917,583 TEU, near the trailing-12-month normal of 831,412 TEU. ## The numbers | Metric | Latest | Trailing-12-mo normal | Status | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Ships awaiting berth | 0 ships | 1 ship | eased | | Truck planning-time index | 2.19 | 4.07 | eased | | Loaded imports | 917,583 TEU | 831,412 TEU | near normal | ## About LA/Long Beach port congestion LA/Long Beach is the country's dominant transpacific gateway. The adjoining ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach share San Pedro Bay and, together, handle more loaded import containers than any other US complex, most of it Asia-origin cargo moving the shortest sailing route across the Pacific. Because the two ports sit side by side and largely serve the same ocean carriers and inland rail networks, The Dwell treats them as one complex for the friction read, while still publishing each port's own container-volume numbers separately. This hub page shows the import-friction read for the complex: a plain, rules-based label built from where its live metrics sit against their own trailing-12-month median. LA/Long Beach is the one complex on this site with all three components reporting: the ship queue, the truck planning-time index, and loaded-import TEU, summed across Los Angeles and Long Beach. A component reading more than 15% above its trailing-12-month median counts as elevated; zero elevated components reads Flowing, one reads Some pressure, two or more reads Congested. It describes the current numbers, never a forecast. Ships awaiting berth is 0 ships, below its trailing-12-month normal of 1 ship (the past year has ranged 0 ships–4 ships). Truck planning-time index is 2.19, below its trailing-12-month normal of 4.07 (the past year has ranged 2.19–4.13). Loaded imports is 917,583 TEU, near its trailing-12-month normal of 831,412 TEU (the past year has ranged 755,145 TEU–1,011,809 TEU). Like the other complexes, LA/Long Beach volume typically climbs from summer into the August-through-October peak import season, then eases after Lunar New Year each winter, when factories across China largely shut down and outbound bookings thin out. Because it carries the largest share of Asia-origin cargo, LA/Long Beach is also the complex most exposed to Pacific-side disruption: a labor slowdown, a schedule change by a major transpacific carrier, or a wave of orders pulled forward ahead of a tariff deadline tends to show up here first and hardest, before it reaches the East Coast gateways. See the [ship queue](/waiting/la-long-beach), the [truck planning-time index](/pti/la-long-beach) and [Los Angeles TEU](/teu/los-angeles) and [Long Beach TEU](/teu/long-beach) for the live numbers behind this read, and the [methodology page](/methodology) for the exact rule. ## About this data - Source: The Dwell import-friction read, a composite of BTS supply-chain indicators - Series: Import-friction read and the live metrics behind it - Geography: LA/Long Beach - Unit: vessels - Calculation period: Against a trailing-12-month normal band - Last observation: Aug 25, 2026 - Update frequency: Weekly and monthly components --- Cite: The import-friction read at LA/Long Beach is Flowing as of Aug 25, 2026 (The Dwell). The Dwell. https://the-dwell.com/port/la-long-beach Canonical URL: https://the-dwell.com/port/la-long-beach