Atlas Is Shrugging

Union Pacific Halts Shipments From West Coast To Chicago To Ease “Significant Congestion”

UP hopes this suspension, which will start on Sunday and last for about seven days, will not only help relieve port backlogs for Chicago-bound container traffic but also ultimately help address backlogs for containers destined to other markets. The suspension applies to UP-served terminals at the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland, California, and Tacoma, Washington. 

FreightWaves has been told that the suspension reportedly entails customers shipping IPI 20-foot or 40-foot equipment, not customers using domestic 53-foot equipment.

“This week we reached out to the ocean carriers to take more positive steps to improve fluidity and throughput in the Los Angeles Basin and our Global IV facility in Chicago. … We believe this change will allow the transportation supply chain to begin working off the backlog of Global IV-destined trains while freeing up railcar assets to support import loading needs on the West Coast,” UP said in an advisory provided to FreightWaves.

“We are working closely with the ocean carriers and collaborating wherever possible to improve the health of the supply chain.”

UP, along with other supply chain partners including Class I railroads, have been grappling with congestion at the West Coast ports as the economic recovery and robust e-commerce activity have kept U.S. import levels brisk. 

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I must have missed something. How will not shipping containers relieve port backlogs? Maybe our Surgeon General can address this misinformation?

David DeGerolamo