What are the causes of congestion in American ports?

Los Angeles Port is the busiest port in North America, with a record throughput in 2021.

Throughput at the port of Container, which includes imports such as furniture and clothing, surged to a record 10.6 million TEUs in 2021, an increase of nearly 16% over the previous year.

TEU, or 20-foot equivalent unit, is the industry standard for measuring the cargo capacity of ships and docks.A 20-foot Container can hold about 400 flat-screen TVs.

But this Quantity comes with a series of disadvantages affecting everyone from retail stores and large manufacturers to port communities.

As of Feb. 16, there had been a backlog of more than 70 container ships drifting, sailing slowly or waiting outside Los Angeles harbor.At the same time, there are nearly 62,000 empty Container in port terminals and off-terminal warehouses.

"Over the last two years, you've seen the economy open and closed, the ports doing the same thing, factories and everywhere else, workers getting sick, truck drivers losing their jobs, all these small mismatches, and some kind of supply chain between fundamentally different countries has put our supply chain out of balance," said Scott Lincicome, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute.

Port congestion can also have an impact on the health of surrounding communities.

Pollution increased to about the equivalent of 5.8 million passenger car emissions in October as vessels docked near the port of San Pedro Bay became congested.

Trucks, trains and dock equipment are another source of pollution.According to the Clean Air Alliance, shipments have been linked to higher rates of asthma, cancer and other illnesses.

"Ports are a huge economic hub and there is no denying, no denying their global importance, but there is no denying the impact on people's health, the impact on people's quality of life, and the impact on their longevity," said Chris Chavez, deputy director of policy at the Clean Air Alliance.

It also has an impact on the world.In November, 11.5% of global shipping capacity was effectively offline as ships waited in line, according to Sea-Intelligence, Headquarters's Copenhagen-based maritime data company.

So what is causing bottlenecks at West Coast ports and what is being done to ease congestion?Watch the video for more information.