In The News

2008 retail container traffic lowest in 4 years

WASHINGTON — Year-over-year cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports fell for the 17th straight month in December, completing the slowest year since 2004 as the U.S. economic downturn continued, according to the monthly Port Tracker report released Thursday by the National Retail Federation and IHS Global Insight.

Volume for the year was estimated at 15.3 million Twenty-Foot-Equivalent Units, compared with 16.5 million TEU in 2007. That would be a decline of 7.1 percent and the lowest total since 2004, when 14 million TEU moved through the ports. One TEU is one 20-foot container or its equivalent.

“2008 was a slow year for the ports for the simple reason that it was a slow year for retail sales,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. “We don’t expect a significant increase in traffic at the ports until retail sales return to normal levels, and even then retailers will be careful not to over-stock.”

U.S. ports surveyed handled 1.23 million TEU in November, the last month for which actual numbers are available. That was down 10.3 percent from the 2008 peak of 1.37 million TEU set in October and down 11.8 percent from November 2007. December was estimated at 1.2 million TEU, down 6.4 percent from December 2007. The last month to see a year-over-year increase was July 2007, when the 1.44 million TEU moved through the ports was up 3.4 percent from July 2006.

January is forecast at 1.16 million TEU, down 6.3 percent from January 2008, and February is forecast at 1.1 million TEU, down 11.1 percent from 2008. March is expected to be up 1.1 percent from a year earlier at 1.17 million TEU, but April is expected to decline 2.6 percent from 2008 at 1.23 million TEU. May is forecast at 1.25 million TEU, down 4 percent from last year.

Kevin Jones of The Trucker Staff can be reached for comment at [email protected].