Port of LA imports jump 25% in October, its second-busiest month ever, as rail-bound boxes back up

The Port of Los Angeles moved 1,026,872 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in October, a record for the month and second only to September's all-time high, the port said Nov. 12. The Nov. 12 release called it the first time the port has topped 1 million TEUs in back-to-back months. Loaded imports climbed 25% from October 2025 to 538,620 TEUs, 30% above the port's five-year October average, the same release said.

The rest of the mix was lopsided. Loaded exports fell 7% from a year earlier to 114,981 TEUs, while empty containers set a record for the second month in a row at 373,271 TEUs as ocean carriers sent equipment back to Asia, the Nov. 12 release said. Through October the port has handled 9,108,497 TEUs this year, up 5% from the same stretch of 2025, per the same release. Executive Director Gene Seroka pointed to steady consumer spending, retailers rebuilding inventory, changing trade policy and trouble on other shipping routes.

Long Beach is busy as well. Counting loaded and empty boxes, October volume rose more than 20% from a year earlier at Los Angeles and more than 11% at Long Beach, Bloomberg reported Nov. 12, citing port figures. "Numbers are still strong even as the season winds down," the National Retail Federation's Jonathan Gold said in that report. NRF still expects the surge to taper off by year-end and imports to fall 3% in January from a year earlier, the same Bloomberg story said.

What it means for carriers

The strain shows up mostly on the rail side. The port's operations report for Nov. 10 counted 23,887 import containers on terminal waiting for on-dock rail, and 9,500 of them had waited nine days or more. Average on-dock rail dwell was 6.3 days in that report, against 3.4 days for local cargo leaving by truck. The same Nov. 10 report put street dwell for chassis across the San Pedro Bay ports at 4.0 days for 20-foot units and 5.9 days for 40-foot and longer.

For drayage fleets, that adds up to steady freight with slower turns, since a chassis that stays out longer is not free for the next pickup. In a Nov. 12 report by gCaptain, Paul Brashier of ITS Logistics said congestion at both ports is still running very high because of rising imports and a thinner pool of drivers. He advised shippers to plan for extra trucking capacity through Lunar New Year.

What shippers and brokers should watch

- More volume. Seroka said November is shaping up to be strong and that a solid December could make 2026 the busiest year in the port's history, gCaptain reported Nov. 12. Long Beach CEO Noel Hacegaba told Bloomberg he expects heavy volume at least into early next year, as importers bring goods in before the U.S.-China trade truce expires again in January.
- Rail dwell. The port updates its operations report each business day. If waits for trains keep growing, more importers may truck boxes to transload warehouses instead.
- Nov. 20. That is the deadline in contract talks for the ILWU Local 26 security workers at both ports. Gold warned of possible disruption without a deal, Bloomberg reported Nov. 12, and gCaptain said longshore Local 13 and clerks Local 63 have said they would honor Local 26 picket lines.
- Exports. Bloomberg reported Nov. 12 that loaded exports also fell 6% at Long Beach. Weak exports leave draymen fewer chances to pair an import delivery with an export load.