U.S. Port & Logistics Review, May 2025

Key Takeaways

U.S. Ports
- The executive director of the LA port, Gene Seroka, stated he expects a drop of up to 31% in volume in the coming week at the LA port.
- US Ports are operating normally, with minimal to no backlog.
- Audit Logistics does not expect any disruptions in the flow of goods through the ports. We will be closely following the data behind the US ports and monitoring daily vessel arrivals and container flows over the coming months.
- See map under “Suez Canal” each arrow or dot is a container vessel inbound to the USA.
U.S. Tariffs
- As of April 10:
  - Most foreign origins are being assessed a 10% tariff in addition to the normal tariff for the item being imported.
  - Steel and aluminum goods are assessed a 25% tariff.
  - De minimis is set to end on May 2.
  - Chinese imports are being assessed a 145% tariff in addition to the normal tariff for the item being imported.
Ocean vessel schedule reliability is hovering around 55% going into 2025. This represents a drop from 2023, where reliability was near 65%. It is also a large drop from 2019 and prior, which saw reliability averaging 75%+
- For US imports expect minimal delays on average 1-3 days.
  - Booking delays in Asia could be as high as 2 weeks.

Container Logistics

Container Costs
- Container costs have decreased over the past 11 weeks. The are still 2x the cost of low point we saw in 2023; 2023 saw containers drop to near 2019 and prior levels.
- Factors that caused the increase:
  - Carriers canceling planned vessels, to ensure each boat that is moving is full. Leading to shippers fighting for the available space.
  - Container availability issues are occurring. This is mostly due to the longer transit times boats have been facing for 8+ months.
  - Additionally, vessels being out of position due to longer transit times / delays.
  - Shippers are moving up their peak season shipments, which is worsening the current market conditions.
  - Imports to the US are up 8% year over year.
Suez Canal and the Red Sea
- Starting in November 2023 most long-range steamship lines avoiding this area. Local traffic is continuing to use the canal.
  - Overall volume through the canal is down over 50% compared to this time last year.
- Vessels inbound to the USA are continuing to route around Africa (Cape of Good Hope), which increases transit time by roughly a week.

US Port and Overland Overview

Fuel Updates
- Ocean Fuel (VLSFO) held its price in April, with its current price matching the latter half of 2024.
  - Compared to 2021 and prior the cost is still up 50% +
- Diesel in the USA as the start of May is $3.51 a gallon
  - Diesel is still roughly 20% higher than 2019 levels, which is keeping freight prices elevated.
  - Additionally, average diesel prices reported by EIA.gov are typically lower than truck stop prices, and are average across large sections of the country.
- National FTL rates are steady going into 2025, though elevated from 2019 levels.
  - FTL rates out of Southern California are high and are expected to remain high.
  - LTL and small package rates have continued to rise, due to the nature of how those networks function.

Data Analysis

March container imports increased over February, in line with normal yearly expectations following Chinese New Year / TET.
- March 2025 represented an 11% increase over March 2024 – and was the 3rd busiest March on record.

The east coast ports overtook the west coast ports for the first time in 9 months.

The PDF below is port-by-port review across the U.S. in April 2025 compared to 2024 & 2023.