By Jim Stinson
Normality — at least what passes as normality in 2020 and 2021 — seemed to be slowly returning to trucking lanes out of the Los Angeles area after months of supply chain congestion. The number of ships offshore the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in California had dropped in late March, from its peak in February.
As drayage and dockworkers got the containers off ships and onto trucks or trains, headed toward warehouses, TL spot rates steadily declined, according to Dean Croke, DAT principal analyst. On average, TL spot rates out of Los Angeles or Ontario, California, dropped 7 cents for the week ended March 21, coming in at $2.84 per mile, Croke said.
“It looked like they had started to catch up,” said Croke.
But the latest numbers indicate imports show no sign of long-term decline, signaling elevated spot rates and tight capacity for the trucking market.
SHEFALI KAPADIA 