After a rough 2020 for everyone, the Port of Virginia is coming in strong with new and improved services for 2021. The $800 million infrastructure investment into the port could not have come at a better time as a record rush of imports are currently crashing against the US shores leading to never-before-seen throughput. While most US ports are concerned with high levels of demurrage and detention, the efficiency of the Port of Virginia is unrivaled among the competition.
After the disruption in ocean cargo felt during 2020, the total numbers for the port were down 4% across the months even though October, November, and December were the highest ever seen in the history of the port at 274K teus, 280K teus, and 260K teus, respectively. Even January 2021 was at 271K teus and the final quarter of 2020 came in at a 13% increase over 4th quarter 2019 at 814K teus total. These are staggering numbers.
In light of the increased throughput, it’s no surprise that the main goal of the investment and improvements made in the port and on the port campus were expected to add a million teus of capacity to the space. What’s surprising is that the average truck time for a turn at the port is 36 minutes. That’s not a typo. More than 90% of trucks visiting the port have a turn time under one hour, a feat that is unheard of at most other ports currently. In this case, an ounce of prevention (investment) is worth more than a pound of cure (efficiency)!
Ocean cargo isn’t going to get better anytime soon and many US ports are going to be in trouble when the cascading delays from the Ever Given start to hit our shores. By taking advantage of the Port of Virginia and leaning on the experts here at Nelson International to create custom logistics solutions, you can mitigate the expenses and delays that come along with such a situation. Contact us today to talk about the ways we can keep you moving through 2021 and beyond!
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