🚨 Key developments: 580,000 TEU of large vessels backed up, terminal rail capacity nearly paralyzed, and nearly 66,837 empty containers clogging the docks. By late October, the Port of Los Angeles was already experiencing an unprecedented "double-sided blockage" pressure-cooker market.

What is truly suffocating US-bound cargo owners is yesterday's cascade of bad news: the countdown to the November 1 strike by ILWU Local 26 watchmen, a mandatory congestion fee of up to $250 per container, and the full physical closure of the Vincent Thomas Bridge for 16 months starting November 7. External "land-side heart attacks" are colliding seamlessly with the port's internal "chronic thrombosis," and the lifeline of the US West Coast supply chain is being strangled.

According to the latest official daily operations report from the Port of Los Angeles, the stark official dashboard data has set off air-raid sirens across the board.

01 Terminals Hit by "Double-Sided Blockage": Strike and Empty Container Crisis

The Port of Los Angeles terminals are currently squeezed to their limits by accumulated containers, turning into a pressure cooker ready to explode at any moment.

👉 Import laden containers: one quarter stuck at the terminals

Latest official data shows the Port of Los Angeles currently has a total backlog of 49,000 import containers. Of these, only 62.7% are moving normally (0-4 days), while severely backlogged containers dwelling 9 days or more have reached 12,540, accounting for 25.6%.

👉 Empty containers piling up: worse than the historical crisis, with nowhere to return

Even more critical than laden containers are the empty containers that cannot be evacuated. Empty container accumulation at the terminals has surged to 66,837, directly exceeding the total number of import laden containers in circulation across the port. Compared with the historical peak during the 2021 global supply chain crisis, the current empty container volume has actually increased by 1%.

💥 Compounded by yesterday's bad news:

As analyzed in yesterday's article, the strike by ILWU Local 26 watchmen at 5:00 PM on November 1 (this Sunday) is now a foregone conclusion. The strike adopts a "bridge closure and rerouting" strategy, precisely targeting the truck landside operations of terminals "on the island and within the bridge."

With nearly 67,000 empty containers already jammed into the terminals, once the watchmen strike causes the gate security verification system to halt, trucks will be unable to enter. The survival line for domestic cargo owners to return empty containers to off-dock yards and pick up laden containers in the later period will be directly severed. A large number of US trucking companies have already begun imposing mandatory congestion surcharges of $200–$250, instantly eroding cargo owners' profits to nothing.

02 Rail Bottleneck Over the Top: Over 40% of Rail Containers Dwelling 9+ Days

Why can't cargo move? The core bottleneck is the paralysis of inland rail (On-Dock Rail) capacity.

Currently, the port has 19,869 containers waiting to be loaded on terminal rail lines.

Among them, rail containers dwelling 9 days or more have reached 8,654, accounting for an astonishing 43.6%.

Both major rail giants are mired in the struggle:

  • BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway): Handling 12,402 backlogged containers, with FMS terminal becoming the hardest-hit area (over 4,500 containers dwelling 9+ days).
  • UPRR (Union Pacific Railroad): 7,467 containers backlogged, with the 9+ day dwell rate at WBCT terminal approaching 90%.

The official green trend curve clearly shows that recent rail backlogs are experiencing an extremely steep rebound, sprinting toward historical peaks.

03 The Real Wave Is Still at Sea: 580,000 TEU Bearing Down on the US West Coast

Worse still, the floodgates are blocked, but the upstream torrential rain has not stopped.

According to the latest port scorecard, within 24 hours, vessels at berth at the Port of Los Angeles surged from 11 to 15, forcing terminals to urgently increase vessel gangs from 46 to 59 operating at full capacity.

Between origin ports and the US West Coast's San Pedro Bay, another 65 mega-vessels are en route, with an estimated carrying capacity of 583,529 TEU. Of these inbound vessels, 42% have capacity exceeding 10,000 TEU. This means a massive wave of large container ships is about to bear down in the coming days.

04 The Ultimate Suspense: November 4 Strike Deadline

With inland rail turnover crippled, massive vessel congestion, and empty containers overwhelming the terminals, the US West Coast supply chain's margin for error has dropped to zero.

At this critical moment, approximately 250 port security personnel of ILWU Local 26 have authorized a strike, with the latest negotiation deadline planned to be extended to November 4.

Although this extension and the strike have not yet received final official confirmation, market panic is already spreading. Industry analysts point out that once security personnel stop work, truck entry and exit at the port and key terminal operations will be directly halted. At this juncture where empty container volumes are near historical peaks, any minor disturbance could trigger a complete "warehouse overflow" across the entire US West Coast port complex.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The winter of US West Coast logistics seems to be arriving earlier than expected. We recommend that foreign trade and freight forwarding enterprises closely monitor inland rail delays, reasonably adjust shipping plans and routes around November 4, prepare backup plans in advance, and avoid putting all chips on a single channel.

Continued coverage: We will continue to monitor the Port of Los Angeles daily operational data. If you want to receive the latest official results of the November 4 strike negotiations and updates on whether port congestion is easing at the earliest opportunity, please follow this official account and star it. We will continue tracking in the background.

The US West Coast is undergoing a major reshuffle. Below is the real-time logistics map of each terminal at Los Angeles and Long Beach.

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[Copyright and Disclaimer]

The port backlog, empty container, and en-route vessel data cited in this article are all from the Port of Los Angeles official operations report dated October 29, 2026. Union and bridge information is sourced from Caltrans and publicly available industry information. The article content, analysis, and recommendations represent solely the author's personal views and are provided for industry exchange and business reference only, not as a legal commitment for final investment decisions or shipping risks. The market is changing rapidly; please closely monitor the latest real-time operational announcements from official sources or individual terminals.

Please credit the source when republishing: Huodai Tianyan