Update: Nine Days Until East Coast Port Agreement Expiration

As we have been discussing for the last few months, and most recently in our December port report, the East and Gulf Coast ports are once again coming up on a deadline to resolve their ongoing labor dispute. 

Following the three-day work stoppage and consequential freight backlog in October 2024, the East Coast Longshoremen's Union (ILA) agreed with the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) to extend the existing contract until Jan 15, 2025, with an understanding that both sides would continue to work towards a more long-lasting deal during the extension.

This week we are getting reports of the negotiation talks re-starting on Jan 7, 2025. Parties extremely familiar with the talks report that both sides are already in agreement about pay increases, and have been since the October port strike in 2024. However, the main topic of discussion in the most recent rounds of negotiations will be revisiting the topic of port automation. We do not anticipate to see much news from the negotiation table until next week.

While the ILA and USMX are busy preparing for the negotiation table, many shippers are already bracing for another round of potential strikes with freight prices on both coasts jumping slightly into the new year.

As we discussed in our December port report, the West Coast has continued to outpace the East Coast load share since the summer of 2024 - which means many shippers have planned ahead and have already sent items to the West Coast to be transported overland via rail or truck to their final destinations and avoiding the East Coast ports until the negotiations are settled.

The West Coast, while gaining more traffic, has continued to handle the increased freight capacity with minimal delays. The main source of delays we are seeing with freight on the West Coast is with transfers to rail - which is relatively common and has been happening well before the increase in freight volume on the West Coast.

Our advice remains the same: if you have freight at the East Coast or expected to be at the East Coast soon - be patient with the process. There may be delays across multiple lanes but we will likely not know exactly which ports are expected to be affected until Jan 15. If your freight has not yet shipped, you still have time to investigate alternative options with your vendors and our freight managers.

Please reach our to your freight manager with any questions about specific projects or containers.