b'8American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comUS ports 2024: Behind theTop 30 North Americanvolume surge Ports by Tonnage2023By Mike DeAngelis, Senior Dir. of International Solutions, FourKites RankPortState TONNAGE1Port of Houston Texas275,940,289U.S. port operations havein the average time required to2Port of South LouisianaLouisiana225,086,697seen record-breaking volumesmove containers by truck after3Port of VancouverBC Canada165,766,240whiledemonstratingremark- they were released from ports4Port of Corpus ChristiTexas150,755,485able resiliencedespite seri- from 176 to 141 hours, likely5Port of New York and New JerseyNew Jersey/New York123,697,438ousstructuralchallengesthatdue to reduced trucking activ- 6Port of New OrleansLouisiana81,067,448couldreshapeity,followed7Port of Long BeachCalifornia79,178,087maritimetradebyadelayed8Port of Greater Baton RougeLouisiana71,686,872patterns in 2025. surgeasnet- 9Port of BeaumontTexas70,567,386The Port ofworksrecov- 10Port of Los AngelesCalifornia59,452,139LosAngelesisered. Hurricane headingforitsMiltondrove11Port of VirginiaVirginia58,048,785bestDecembertimeseven12Port of MobileAlabama53,206,561on record, poten- higher to 196.413Plaquemines PortLouisiana46,750,799tiallyexceedinghoursthe14Northwest Seaport Alliance (Tacoma/Seattle)Washington44,539,596900,000TEUs,highestofthe15Port of SavannahGeorgia43,453,044whileLongperiod.These16Port of Lake CharlesLouisiana43,053,658Beachisonweatherdis- 17Port of Port ArthurTexas41,222,200trackforanall-timeannualruptions,comingduringan18Port of MontrealQuebec Canada38,911,589record of 9.6 million TEUs,alreadystressedperiodof19Port FreeportTexas38,748,662accordingtoBloomberg.peak season cargo movements20Port of BaltimoreMaryland35,202,027Butthissurgeisntdrivenand strike preparation, created21Port of Texas CityTexas33,721,312by organic demand. As notedsignificant systemic stress, with22Port of Saint John NB Canada30,754,486by the Journal of Commerce,hurricane-periodtransittimes23Port of PhiladelphiaPennsylvania28,517,760wereseeingadisconnectaveraging39.3hoursabove between torrid import growthnormal baseline operations. 24Port of Tampa BayFlorida28,511,760and tepid domestic demand,Butratherthancollaps- 25Port of Prince RupertBC Canada25,904,316as Larry Gross puts it. Instead,ingunderthestrain,ports26Port of ValdezAlaska25,113,231this volume spike stems fromhavedemonstratedwhatId27Twin Ports of Duluth and SuperiorMinnesota/Wisconsin25,071,110a perfect storm of three fac- calladaptiveefficiency.Our28Port of CharlestonSouth Carolina24,947,482tors: anticipated tariffs underanalysisalsoshowedSeattle29Northern Indiana Maritime DistrictIndiana24,684,060the incoming Trump admin- emergingasamodelofsta- 30Port of PascagoulaMississippi23,096,778istration,theloomingILAbilitywhileOaklandeffec-strikethreatforJanuary15,tively handled diverted cargo,Short Tons and an early Lunar New Year. demonstrating how secondaryNote: Includes both International and Domestic Source: Port, State and Government dataports can provide critical relief s urgeP attern valves during disruptions.Thesesurgesactually(GAINScontinued fromCanal restricting traffic overintraderoutingsafootas begantakingshapemuchP ortP roDuCtivity page 6) thatimportantwaterway?USandEuropeancompa-earlier in 2024. According toHowever, Dennis DaggettwhetherfuturetradefromAnd could disruptions in theniesmovetosourcingfrom FourKitesanalysis,shippersof the ILA raises a valid pointIndia goes eastbound or west- South China Sea impede theChina. India stands to be one started accelerating their cargoaboutportproductivitymet- bound to the USor someusage of traditional Asian tradeof the biggest beneficiaries of movements as early as May,rics that deserves more atten- combination of the two? routessignificantlyhamperthis trend and US port plan-well ahead of the first ILA con- tion.WhenhearguesthatIntermsofpotentialshipmovements?Theseareners are aware of this devel-tractdeadlineeffectivelycomparing U.S. gateway portsdisruptionsthereisalottopossible disruptions that supplyopment. Lars Jensen, CEO of pulling forward the traditionaltopuretransshipmenthubsmonitorfor2025.Willthechainanalystsareconsider- VespucciMaritimeandone peak season. This early surgeislikecomparingapplestoHouthiscontinuetopitching but like the allision withoftheworldsbest-known was then complicated by twooranges,heshighlightingmunitions at ships transitingthe Francis Scott Key bridgecommentatorsoncontainer majorweathereventswhenafundamentalissueinhowtheRedSeaforcingdiver- or COVID itself, disruptionsshipping, said in his presen-Hurricanes Helene and Miltonwemeasureportefficiency.sions around Africa and dras- aresometimesnoteasilytationattheSouthCarolina struck in late September andU.S.portshandlecomplexticallycuttingSuezCanalidentified. InternationalTradeCon-earlyOctober,respectively.(SURGEcontinued ontransits?EquallywilllowHowever, disruptions aside,ference(SCITC)thatWest Helene initially caused a droppage 10) waterreturntothePanamathereisalreadyamajorshiftCoastportsmayeventually evolveintoregionalports asopposedtogatewaysto North America in response to tradetrends,especiallywith the emergence of India. Not coincidentally,in2024the PortofLAsCEOEugene SerokamadeatriptoAsia starting with a stop in India. FromtheEastCoastper-spective, securing liner services from India has become a prior-ity. For example, Georgia Ports Authority(GPA),recently (GAINScontinued on page 10)Port of LA CEO Eugene Seroka'