Container dwell times at the San Pedro Bay port complex - Los Angeles and Long Beach combined - are climbing again as an extended peak season keeps import volumes elevated, according to Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA) data cited by Supply Chain Dive on October 21. Rail-destined containers are now spending five to seven days at marine terminals, well above the sub-three-day level ports consider healthy, while truck-delivered local cargo continues to move through gates in under three days.
The numbers behind the slowdown
The rail versus truck split defines the current congestion. ForwarderOne analysis of PMSA figures puts rail dwell in the 5-to-7-day range in some months, against the sub-three-day benchmark, and describes vessel queues as intermittent. Truck dwell stayed at 2.59 days in April 2026, extending a streak of 15 consecutive months under three days, with rail at 5.06 days that month. The context is a record summer: the Port of Los Angeles moved more than 2.9 million TEUs across June, July and August combined, its busiest three-month period ever, and August alone topped 955,000 TEUs. North American West Coast ports handled 3.7 million TEUs of laden imports in the second quarter, with Southern California growing while Seattle-Tacoma shrank.
Why containers are sitting longer
The causes are landside and operational, not vessel shortages. Chassis pool imbalances leave drivers unable to pull import containers even when cleared; railcar shortages and staging bottlenecks at BNSF Hobart and Union Pacific ICTF back up intermodal moves; crane outages and tighter gate appointments add friction; tariff-driven front-loading has dumped large volumes into terminal yards. The National Retail Federation Global Port Tracker had expected the peak to ease; instead, NRF Vice President Jonathan Gold said import volumes remain high in September because of weather-related vessel delays in China and rerouting away from the Panama Canal.
The cost stack for importers
Extended dwell converts quickly into fees. PierPass runs $40.63 per TEU during peak hours; the Clean Truck Fund adds $10 per loaded TEU; terminal demurrage starts after the Last Free Day - typically two to four business days - at $200 to $500 per day or more; equipment per-diem runs in parallel. Industry guidance estimates a single delayed container can accumulate more than $1,000 in simultaneous charges, and recommends a $150-to-$300-per-container buffer in landed-cost models.
What port officials and analysts say
PMSA Natasha Villa stressed gate operations remain fluid and pointed to the 15-month truck-dwell streak as evidence the complex still moves cargo reliably, while acknowledging rail performance has varied since December. Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka called the summer exceptionally strong. Looking further out, the port FY2026-27 budget forecasts a 7 percent decline to 9.3 million TEUs, as China share of containerized imports through Los Angeles fell from 61 percent in 2020 to about 40 percent in 2026, with Mexico and Canada absorbing more trade. The operational checklist for importers is concrete: lock gate appointments early, verify chassis availability before vessels arrive, treat published free time as the optimistic case, and use pre-pulls to off-dock yards before the Last Free Day expires.
Sources: Supply Chain Dive, ForwarderOne, Roadies Inc., Port Technology / PMSA, Transport Topics / Bloomberg, FreightWaves.
The bigger trade picture
The San Pedro Bay numbers sit inside a longer structural shift. Los Angeles' own FY2026-27 budget forecasts box volumes declining about 7 percent to 9.3 million TEUs, even after a record summer, because trade patterns are re-routing: China's share of containerized imports through Los Angeles has fallen from 61 percent in 2020 to roughly 40 percent in 2026, while Mexico and Canada absorb a larger share of North American demand and nearshoring shifts production. That means the congestion importers feel this fall is timing - tariff-driven front-loading and peak-season volume - layered on a shrinking but still dominant base. Forwarders advise treating published free time as the optimistic case: lock gate appointments early, verify chassis availability before vessels arrive, and pre-pull containers to off-dock yards before the Last Free Day expires, with a $150-to-$300-per-container buffer built into landed-cost models. The dwell-time spike will pass when the peak does; the re-routing of cargo lanes is the variable that will shape port performance for the rest of the decade.
What importers should take away
The near-term message is that dwell-time fees are a planning input, not a surprise. With rail dwell at five to seven days and truck below three, importers routing intermodal cargo through San Pedro Bay should assume rail moves will face the longer window through at least the next peak period, price freight accordingly, and keep buffer stock that does not depend on just-in-time rail arrivals. The structural message is quieter but larger: the complex that moves a shrinking share of America's import trade is still the one absorbing most of its peak-season surges, and its operators are increasingly competing for volume that used to be captive. Port performance will remain a competitive factor between West Coast and East Coast routing decisions for years, which makes dwell-time transparency - published, consistent and gate-level - a genuine commercial asset for the ports that provide it.
