US ports have been struggling with congestion and transport issues over recent months, but the increasing number of Coronavirus cases amongst port workers has been exasperating the situation further in the past few weeks.

Around 700 new cases have hit staff in Los Angeles and Long Beach terminals since December, which has led to increased pressure, and often further delays, due to the lack of workforce.

California has seen a large spike in new cases recently, with the daily average moving from around 4,500 in mid-November to 45,000 by the middle of January.  It was recently reported that up to 1800 port staff were not working at Los Angeles port, due to contracting the disease or isolating, which has resulted in over 40 container ships queuing outside the port waiting to berth.

Westbound have also witnessed an increase in cases at our West Coast fulfilment centre. While we continue to automate much of the process, and are currently working on more automated solutions, the impact of this coronavirus spike is inevitably leading to some delays in pick requests.

Right now, delays should be expected on all North American arrivals, with particular emphasis on the West Coast. We are doing all we can to manage the situation and will keep customers updated of developments.

At Westbound Logistics we pride ourselves in offering personalised and tailored logistics solutions. To find out more please call 01375 800800​ or email [email protected].