Chart depicts the total number of container ships waiting for an available dock at U.S. ports overall (solid line) and select major port complexes (dashed lines).
4/ In late October 2021, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which account for around 37% of all U.S. containerized imports, announced intentions to levy fees on long dwelling containers. Since that time, nearly 90,000 fewer are dwelling more than 9 days on the ports—a 70% improvement.
Chart depicts the total number of imported containers sitting at terminals at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach for 9 days or more, (i.e. long-dwelling). The chart shows the approximate total of long dwelling containers reported on the first Monday of each month since November 2021. Estimated TEU measure is calculated using a standard practice of multiplying total units reported by the ports by a factor of 1.8.
Workforce: Monitoring job openings and employment trends across the sector helps understand how labor capacity may impact supply chain fluidity.
5/ In 2021, job openings increased substantially, outpacing a slight increase in hiring, in the Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities sector.
Chart depicts job openings and labor turnover in the Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities sector of the economy, by month.
6/ As of January 2022, the trucking industry has recovered 70,000 workers since one year earlier, and sits at around 30,000 higher than at start of the pandemic.
Chart depicts the number of employees working in the truck transportation subsector of the economy, on a monthly basis, and includes the drivers, mechanics, managers, and laborers/movers involved in this sector. Self-employed drivers, known as owner-operators, are not included in this measure.
Rail: Measuring and monitoring intermodal units moved by rail helps identify capacity constraints on U.S. railroads and potential stresses to U.S. supply chains, overall.
7/ Intermodal movements by freight rail have generally trended at or above pre-pandemic (2019) levels.
Chart depicts how many shipping containers and truck trailers are moved on rail cars in a given week on U.S. Class I Railroads. Approximately half of all railroad carloads are intermodal.
Non-Transportation Supply Chain Indicators
8/ Retail inventories excluding autos were more than 4 percent above pre-pandemic levels at the end of December. Higher frequency data from grocery and drug stores show that the share of products that were in stock was 88 percent compared to 91 percent on February 23, 2020.
