TradeEdge

In April 2026, the average truck turn time at the Port of Long Beach was 55 minutes. Vessel anchorage wait was 0.08 days — essentially zero. Every gate was open. Cargo was moving. If you are an importer who lived through 2021 and 2022, that sentence reads like fiction. It is not fiction. It is the current operational reality at America's busiest container port. And it is precisely the kind of calm that experienced freight professionals treat with the most caution — because the ports that are smoothest in May are almost always the ones that are most congested by October. I have been managing freight operations across Los Angeles, Frankfurt, and Chicago for fifteen years. I have coordinated shipments through the worst port congestion in modern US trade history. And the most valuable lesson I took from every one of those experiences is this: the importers who survive port congestion are not the ones who respond best when it hits. They are the ones who prepared before it arrived. T...

By Jason Kim  ·  Branch Manager  ·  15 years in freight forwarding  ·  Los Angeles · Frankfurt · Chicago If you’ve been importing for any length of time, you’ve likely felt the sting of a freight invoice that’s substantially higher than the original quote. You scan the line items and there they are: Demurrage and Detention (D&D) charges. In my 15 years managing freight operations from Los Angeles to Frankfurt, and now out of Chicago, I've seen these fees obliterate the profit margins of mid-sized importers. They are often viewed as an unavoidable "cost of doing business" in modern global trade. But they aren't. Understanding exactly what these fees are, why they happen, and how to proactively manage them is the first step to plugging the leak in your supply chain budget. The Difference Between Demurrage and Detention These terms are frequently (and incorrectly) used interchangeably. To avoid them, you need to ...

By Jason Kim  ·  Branch Manager  ·  15 years in freight forwarding  ·  Los Angeles · Frankfurt · Chicago If you have a container currently sitting off the coast of San Pedro Bay, you don’t need a news report to tell you there’s a problem. You need to know how much it’s going to cost you in demurrage and detention (D&D) fees —and how to stop the bleeding. As of April 2026, the LA/Long Beach port complex is seeing a surge in "vessel bunching." For importers, this isn't just a delay; it's a direct hit to your bottom line. Average daily late fees can reach $200–$500 per container if you aren't prepared. Here are the three tactical steps you must take right now to protect your shipment and your profit margins. Step 1: Shift to "Diversified Routing" (Stop Relying on One Port) The biggest mistake importers make is "set it and forget it" logistics. If your goods are destined for the Midwest or East Coast, stop routing e...