Specific intelligence on port congestion, demurrage crises, chassis shortages, and the carriers winning through automation.
AI-powered dispatch is now handling 4,000+ trucks at scale, automating container assignment, driver routing, and appointment booking without human intervention. The carriers adopting it are running 2× the volume with the same dispatch headcount.
The FMC's final rule on demurrage and detention billing is now in full effect. Carriers must now demonstrate that charges are tied to actual freight availability, but enforcement burden still falls on operations teams to document the timeline before the Last Free Day.
LA/LB handled over 1M TEUs in July 2025, a record driven by tariff front-loading. Gate queues stretched to 4+ hours. The carriers who booked appointments at slot-release cleared gates in under 45 minutes. The rest waited days.
NY/NJ instituted a revised dwell fee formula targeting containers sitting beyond free time. With 200,000+ empty containers stacking at the port, the fee structure now directly hits carriers without automated LFD monitoring and proactive pickup scheduling.
ASCE's infrastructure report card gives US ports a C+, citing $38B in unmet capital needs through 2033. Federal PIDP funding is oversubscribed 4.5:1. No major capacity expansion is scheduled before 2027. Drayage carriers absorb the gap.
Automated dispatch is no longer experimental in drayage; it's structural. Carriers using AI dispatch platforms process hundreds of containers per second, with driver assignment, LFD prioritization, and appointment booking handled without a dispatcher touching the order.
NY/NJ port volumes fell year-over-year but remain well above pre-pandemic baselines. The port is mid-way through a $220M infrastructure overhaul, but capacity constraints and appointment scarcity persist. Carriers relying on manual booking continue to absorb demurrage on containers that were ready to move.
Long Beach container backlogs crossed into critical territory as vessel queues surged and terminal gate wait times pushed past 4 hours. The carriers who moved first, booking appointments within minutes of release, cleared in under an hour. Everyone else waited.