One of the country’s busiest ports will operate around the clock in an effort to ease cargo bottlenecks that have led to shortages and higher consumer costs, a change announced by the White House as it seeks to alleviate supply-chain issues ahead of the holidays.
By going to 24/7, the Port of Los Angeles will join the neighboring Port of Long Beach, Calif., which started doing a similar thing last month. Major ports in Asia and Europe have operated around the clock for years.
Expanded operations at the Port of Los Angeles would nearly double the hours that cargo can move, according to the White House. It said the extra shifts have been agreed to by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents dock workers.
The Port of Long Beach struggled to increase cargo flows after it extended its opening hours, with truckers complaining that restrictions put on them for picking up and dropping off containers were too onerous. Shortages of truck drivers and warehouse workers have also posed problems across supply chains. It remains unclear how many of the terminals in Los Angeles will operate 24/7 and when those operations will begin.
Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said details of the overnight hours are still being worked out with companies in the supply chain.
“Today’s announcement has the potential to be a game changer,” President Biden said. “I say potential because all of these goods won’t move by themselves. For the positive impact to be felt all across the country, and by all of you at home, we need major retailers who order the goods and the freight movers who take the goods from ships to factories and to stores to step up as well.”
The American supply chain has struggled to adapt to a crush of imports as consumers shifted from services to home goods, including electronics, and as businesses rush to restock pandemic-depleted inventories. Hundreds of thousands of containers are stuck at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, the West Coast gateways that move more than a quarter of all American imports. Dozens of ships are anchored off the coast, with waiting times stretching to three weeks.
The supply-chain snarl is leading to higher prices and helping drive inflation, which accelerated slightly in September, posing another challenge for Mr. Biden, whose policy agenda is tied up in negotiations in Congress. The administration has been confronted with an array of supply-chain problems, affecting everything from lumber to semiconductors, and it has been seeking ways to partner with private industry to ease the backlog.
Walmart Inc., FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service Inc. are among the companies that have stepped up operations at the ports, according to the White House, with the expectation that other companies will adopt the same cycle.