Los Angeles and Long Beach port leaders say it may take 3 months to return to normal
Los Angeles: It could take around three months for the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to return to normal operations in the wake of the dockworkers dispute, say officials.
The standoff saw thousands of cargo containers left stranded on more than 20 ships. Congestion was already a problem at the ports because of the arrival of bigger ships, the uneven distribution of chassis for moving containers and a shortage of rail cars.
But that was exacerbated by the onset of the contract dispute which caused serious shipment delays and led some customers to seek alternate routes or methods of transport.
Port of Los Angeles executive director Gene Seroka and Long Beach Port chief executive Jon Slangerup, told the JOC Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference in Long Beach on Tuesday that it would take a month to clear the backlog and a further two months to get back to a sense of normalcy.
