A Thanksgiving blessing for West Coast shippers

A strategic drive to increase imports coupled with the past season’s congestion crisis at Southern California ocean cargo gateways has brought record inbound numbers to the Port of Oakland.

In what may be the only happy story to tell leading up to Thanksgiving weekend, port spokesmen tell LM that containerized imports shipped through surged 9.17% in October from a year ago – the biggest jump in import cargo volume in six months. 

Port officials said cargo diversions from Southern California are adding hundreds of additional import containers weekly to Oakland volumes.  Last week the first vessel diverted from Southern California to bypass congestion arrived in Oakland.  

Meanwhile, Oakland has undertaken a series of measures in recent years to attract more import volume.  They include increased water depth for larger vessels, bigger cargo-handling cranes and outreach to importers and shipping lines.

The port said total cargo volume – imports and exports – was up 3.84% in October from a year ago.  Year-to-date volume has increased 1.81%.