PORT FACTS

Top-Producing-US-Ports-Through-2020
Top container ports in U.S.

West Coast ports dominate the nation’s container trade, with the shortest transit times to Asian ports, as well as rail access to the Midwest and East Coast.

Source: USDOT 2022 Port Performance Freight Statistics Program: Supply-Chain Feature, January 2022

TEUs in top container ports
Image showing dry bulk cargo exports at U.S. Pacific Northwest ports.

ILWU workers at Pacific Northwest ports on the Columbia River and Puget Sound move massive amounts of the country’s grain and other USA exports.

Source: USDOT 2022 Port Performance Freight Statistics Program: Supply-Chain Feature, January 2022

shortest transit times to transpacific trade route

Shortest Trans-Pacific Trade Times

West Coast ports will always be the closet U.S. gateways to Asian ports, and remain among the fastest routes to the Midwest and East Coast as well.

2017-2021 port activity
Port activity in 2020-2021

Source: USDOT 2022 Port Performance Freight Statistics Program: Supply-Chain Feature, January 2022

Number of Ship-to-Shore Gantry Cranes - 2018 - BTS statistics

LA/LB Top Ship-to-Shore Gantry Cranes

The U.S. West Coast tops container crane capacity, with the Los Angeles and Long Beach port complex offering 78 Super Post-Panamax cranes and 72 other ship-to-shore gantry cranes in 2018, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Larger cranes are needed to handle the newer generations of ships:

Vessel sizes and corresponding port infrastructure

U.S. West Coast Ports

Los Angeles Container Ships

Southern California

Los Angeles
Long Beach
Port Hueneme
San Diego

Port of Oakland container ships

Northern California

Oakland
Stockton
San Francisco
West Sacramento
Redwood City
Richmond
Eureka
Benicia
Crockett
Port Chicago

Wind Energy Ship

Oregon Area/Columbia River

Portland
Vancouver USA
Longview
Kalama
Rainier
Newport
Coos Bay/North Bend
Astoria
St. Helens/Columbia County

Tacoma Grain Ship

Washington Area/Puget Sound

Tacoma
Seattle
Olympia
Everett
Bellingham
Port Angeles
Aberdeen/Grays Harbor
Port Gamble
Anacortes