Inbound freight coming from the U.S. East Coast is backlogged as Norfolk Southern’s Landers intermodal yard, located in Chicago, fights to handle an extremely high volume of ocean containers coming from both U.S. coasts.
East Coast shippers who use Norfolk Southern railway are reporting delays that are lasting weeks. In late March and even into April, some containers bound for Chicago remained at the Port of New York and New Jersey for 12 to 24 days.
The pileup is said to have begun in February, due to inclement weather conditions at East Coast ports. During that month, port terminals in NY/NJ were closed for five days because of snow, which greatly affected the number of rail lifts performed that month, dropping by more than 18,000 lifts from the month before. Adding to the congestion, heavy volumes of inbound containers coming from U.S. West Coast ports continue to land in Chicago.
Norfolk Southern is partnering with shippers to collect containers as quickly as possible, in order to efficiently clear space for inbound freight. The railway is also working to minimize the backlog by opening a new stack area at Landers yard for excess ocean containers. Limited availability of truckers, chassis, and warehouse space in Chicago is making it more challenging to resolve the backlog issue, and some ocean carriers say rail delays should be expected until the end of April.
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