Lifts at the Port of New York and New Jersey were 6.7 percent better in May 2017 compared to the same month, previous year. The port handled 325,373 lifts (565,052 TEUs) for a new monthly record overall. Hitting this mark made May 2017 one of the top five best months in Port of NY & NJ history. Import loads also rose 4.8 percent for May 2017 over May 2016 at 163,367 lifts. Export loads rose 2.8 percent to 66,520 lifts while empties rose 13.2 percent 94,031 lifts. Year-to-date volumes of 1,520,939 lifts (2,645,069 TEUs) beat the same count for 2016 by 4.9 percent. At 767,873 lifts, import loads were up 4.4 percent while export loads rose slightly, up 1.3 percent at 318,187 lifts. At 428,448 lifts, export empties were up 9.1 percent compared to 2016. Rail lifts for May 2017 (48,287) were 5.4 percent better than May 2016. Year-to-date volumes remained ahead of 2016 by 2.4 percent. With 42,656 units, auto volumes rose 5.7 percent over May 2016. Year-to-date, auto volumes are up 9.6 percent.