Surge In eCommerce Has Port Of Los Angeles Facing 50 Pct More Cargo Shipments Than First Half Of 2020

In Los Angeles, a widespread glut of shipments has slowed down operations at the nation's busiest container port complex, the Port of Los Angeles, according to CNBC.

The numbers were up quite a bit from the first half of the year, which showed renewed strength in business and consumer shopping habits.

Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka, speaking Monday (Dec. 28) on CNBC, said the cargo volume is up 50 percent. That has led to loaded ships anchoring at sea to wait for a spot to open up.

The seaport, managed by the Los Angeles Harbor Department, is feeling the strain of the new surge of shipments, CNBC wrote, with long delays to unload the ships at the port and a dearth of warehouse space due to the spikes in eCommerce orders heading into the holiday season.

In November, the port logged 890,000 20-foot-equivalent units of shipments, a 22 percent increase from the same month in 2019. That includes the aforementioned holiday orders as well as a mass surge of imports from Asia, per CNBC.

Exports have declined in 23 of the last 25 months, which CNBC credited partly to trade policies with China.

CNBC said this situation is a "stark contrast" to the beginning of the pandemic in the spring when the volume of shipments fell dramatically.

PYMNTS pointed out the pandemic's expected deluge of shipments came on time for the holidays, with delays in shipping and earlier-than-average shipping windows for Christmas deliveries. UPS imposed shipping restrictions on some large retailers, which complicated the dealings with rising demand from companies like Newegg, Nike, Gap, L.L. Bean and others.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Postal Service has been "experiencing unprecedented volume increases and limited employee availability due to the impacts of COVID-19," according to an announcement on its own website.

And, all of the issues with shipping have been compounded upon by the new availability and shipping of the vaccines for COVID-19 just in the middle of the holiday season this month.