Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Deputy Administrator Amit Bose recently visited the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to discuss recent progress made toward tackling supply chain issues.
“The reductions in port congestion over these past weeks demonstrate we’re making progress in alleviating supply-chain stress, and coordination across the federal government and with stakeholders is providing results,” Bose said. “We still have work to do — and we will continue to work with the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to address current bottlenecks and build more flexible and resilient supply chains for the future.”
Progress was made via collaborative efforts among the ports, the agency and rail carriers. The agency contacted Class 1 railroads weekly to develop strategies to improve supply-chain fluidity. Rail carriers have operated around the clock and have hired hundreds of employees to keep up with container imports. Intermodal facilities installed upgrades and new equipment to reduce congestion, expand storage areas, and ensure that container traffic moves smoothly.
At the Port of Los Angeles, the average time a container spent in the docks dropped from 12.9 days in June to 2.2 days in November. At the Port of Long Beach, the number of rail containers waiting on the docks dropped by approximately two-thirds.