The turnaround time for container ships at West Coast ports has returned to normal after a month of congestion and delays,
according to wire reports and the Los Angeles Times.
Nearly 200 vessels were stranded outside West Coast ports during a 10-day lockout, which was ended by a federal injunction Oct. 9. At the time, industry experts estimated it would take at least six weeks to get through the backlog.
But officials in the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Puget Sound, which includes Seattle and Tacoma, said long lines have vanished.
"We're now declaring ourselves at the high end of normal," said Dick McKenna of the Los Angeles-Long Beach Marine Exchange, an industry cooperative that monitors ship movements.
"That's the good news," he said. "The bad news is it's only because our ship counts are way down." Typically the two ports receive about eight container ships a day, but in recent weeks, the average has been only about 3 1/2, he said.
It is probable that the drop is temporary, and that traffic will return to typical levels in coming weeks as shipping lines resume normal rotations, McKenna added.
However, some terminal yards remain jammed with containers and suffered from equipment and labor shortages, causing delays in the movement of cargo to customers, according to representatives of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the trucking industry.
"It's definitely improving," union spokesman Steve Stallone said. "But it will be a couple more weeks before things are really cleared up."
The development comes as the union and the Pacific Maritime Association trade blame for the slow pace of recovery. The Justice Department is weighing evidence submitted by both sides, and might ask a federal court to issue further orders regarding the pace of work.
Meanwhile, a federal mediator has called both sides back to the bargaining table after a weeklong break from negotiations. A tentative agreement was reached this month on the issue of technology, but pension, wages and the union's arbitration system remain unsettled.