# Port rail container dwell: Los Angeles vs Long Beach Import containers waiting on terminal for an on-dock train at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and how many have waited 9+ days, by railroad and terminal. Daily counts, not an average dwell time. _Data through Oct 21, 2026 · source last checked Oct 22, 2026 · page revised Oct 22, 2026_ > As of Oct 21, 2026, 16,901 import containers were waiting on Port of Long Beach terminals for an on-dock train, 1,725 of them for 9 days or more, and 20,220 were waiting at the Port of Los Angeles, 6,738 for 9+ days. The 9+ day share is 23.1 points higher at Los Angeles (33.3% at Los Angeles, 10.2% at Long Beach). Los Angeles had more import boxes waiting for rail in total (20,220 against 16,901). Most of the boxes waiting 9+ days at both ports are BNSF-bound (Los Angeles 5,339 of 6,738, Long Beach 1,178 of 1,725). Los Angeles has 20,220 import boxes waiting for on-dock rail, with 33.3% at 9+ days, against Long Beach's 16,901 with 10.2% at 9+ days. The 9+ day share is 23.1 points higher at Los Angeles, where BNSF-bound containers dominate the backlog (5,339 of 6,738 waiting 9+ days). Long Beach is clearing rail boxes faster. ## Each port's latest daily report. Counts of import containers staged on terminal for an on-dock train; 9+ days is the subset that has waited nine days or more. Each port keeps its own report date, and the two are never added together. | | Los Angeles | Long Beach | | --- | --- | --- | | Import boxes waiting for on-dock rail | 20,220 | 16,901 | | Waiting 9+ days | 6,738 | 1,725 | | 9+ day share | 33.3% | 10.2% | | BNSF | 11,350 (5,339 at 9+ days) | 13,092 (1,178 at 9+ days) | | Union Pacific | 8,870 (1,399 at 9+ days) | 3,809 (547 at 9+ days) | | Report date | Oct 21, 2026 | Oct 21, 2026 | ### By terminal, Port of Los Angeles (report of Oct 21, 2026) | Terminal | Waiting for rail | 9+ days | 9+ share | BNSF | Union Pacific | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | APMT | 3,933 | 310 | 7.9% | 1,160 | 2,773 | | ETS | 793 | 23 | 2.9% | 0 | 793 | | FMS | 9,196 | 4,684 | 50.9% | 9,017 | 179 | | TraPac | 847 | 393 | 46.4% | 370 | 477 | | WBCT | 3,052 | 1,132 | 37.1% | 759 | 2,293 | | YTI | 2,399 | 196 | 8.2% | 44 | 2,355 | ### By terminal, Port of Long Beach (report of Oct 21, 2026) | Terminal | Waiting for rail | 9+ days | 9+ share | BNSF | Union Pacific | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | ITS | 2,734 | 201 | 7.4% | 532 | 2,202 | | LBCT | 3,776 | 320 | 8.5% | 3,505 | 271 | | PCT | 2,598 | 328 | 12.6% | 2,254 | 344 | | TTI | 6,801 | 624 | 9.2% | 6,801 | 0 | | Pier A | 992 | 252 | 25.4% | 0 | 992 | ### Railroad terminal dwell, system-wide (weekly, Surface Transportation Board via BTS): the average hours a railcar sits at a terminal across each railroad's whole network. A railcar measure, not a port or container count. | Railroad | Latest week | 4 weeks earlier | A year earlier | Trailing 12-month median | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | BNSF | 22.9 hours (week of Oct 10, 2026) | 22.3 hours | 21.6 hours | 22.2 hours (range 20.4 to 25.3) | | Union Pacific | 19.9 hours (week of Oct 10, 2026) | 19.8 hours | 20.1 hours | 19.8 hours (range 18.1 to 21.6) | ## What these numbers are Both ports publish a daily table of import containers staged on their terminals for an on-dock train, split by railroad (BNSF and Union Pacific) and by terminal, with the number that have waited 9 days or more. The Port of Los Angeles posts it as its Import On-Dock Rail report on the Cargo Operations Dashboard; the Port of Long Beach posts it as Rail Dwell Data on its CargoNav operations dashboard. Because the two tables have the same shape, they compare cleanly: waiting boxes against waiting boxes, 9+ days against 9+ days. The Los Angeles line has gaps before September 23, 2026, days our collection missed; from then on both ports are read every business day. Read the numbers as an inventory count, not a clock. A rising 9+ day share means more rail-bound boxes are sitting on the terminal longer, which is the rail version of the aging tell on the [Los Angeles import-container dwell page](/boxdwell/los-angeles-import-containers). It is not an average dwell time, and it is not vessel dwell at the berth; [dwell time explained](/guides/dwell-explained-vessel-vs-box-vs-ships-waiting) covers those clocks. On a single booking, the on-dock rail step shows up as its own milestone, covered in [container milestone tracking](/guides/container-milestone-tracking). The railroad table below the terminal breakdowns is a different measure again: the average hours a railcar sits at a terminal across BNSF's and Union Pacific's whole networks, reported weekly to the Surface Transportation Board and republished by BTS. It is a true dwell time, but for railcars system-wide, so it gives context for how the railroads are running, not a count at these two ports. ## Common questions ### What is on-dock rail dwell at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach? It is the count of import containers sitting on a marine terminal waiting to be loaded onto a train at an on-dock rail yard, and how many of those have waited 9 or more days. As of Oct 21, 2026, 20,220 boxes were waiting at Los Angeles (33.3% for 9+ days) and 16,901 at Long Beach (10.2% for 9+ days). ### Is this an average dwell time? No. Both ports publish counts: how many import boxes are waiting for rail and how many of them have waited 9+ days. Neither publishes an average number of days for rail-bound boxes. The only true dwell time on this page is the railroads' own system-wide terminal dwell, which measures hours per railcar across each railroad's whole network, not containers at a port. ### Why compare the 9+ day share instead of the raw count? Long Beach and Los Angeles move different volumes by rail, so a bigger port can show more waiting boxes without being more backed up. The share of waiting boxes that have passed 9 days adjusts for that size difference, which makes the two ports comparable. ### Which railroads serve on-dock rail at Los Angeles and Long Beach? BNSF and Union Pacific. Both ports' daily tables split the waiting boxes by those two railroads and by terminal, so you can see where the aging boxes are concentrated. ### How is this different from the Los Angeles import-container dwell page? That page covers every import box on Port of Los Angeles terminals, by age bucket (0-4, 5-8 and 9+ days). This page covers only the rail-bound slice, at both Los Angeles and Long Beach, because the two ports' daily rail tables are the one dwell measure they publish in exactly the same shape. ## About this data - Source: Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach daily on-dock rail reports; railroad terminal dwell from the STB via BTS - Series: Import containers awaiting on-dock rail and the 9+ day subset, by railroad (BNSF, Union Pacific) and terminal - Basis: Daily counts of rail-bound import boxes on terminal, not an average dwell time; each port keeps its own report date - Geography: Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach, side by side (never summed) - Unit: percent - Calculation period: Daily business-day snapshot per port; railroad terminal dwell is a weekly system-wide average - Last observation: Oct 21, 2026 - Update frequency: Daily ## Official sources - [Port of Los Angeles: Import On-Dock Rail report (PDF)](https://kentico.portoflosangeles.org/getmedia/e738dff4-39ec-4290-a54c-f3ca57be77f4/import-on-dock-rail-report) - [Port of Long Beach CargoNav: Rail Dwell Data](https://polb.com/cargo-nav/port-operations/) - [BTS Supply Chain and Freight Indicators (railroad terminal dwell)](https://data.bts.gov/d/y5ut-ibwt) --- Cite: On-dock rail import containers: Long Beach 16,901 import boxes waiting for rail (10.2% at 9+ days), Los Angeles 20,220 (33.3% at 9+ days) as of Oct 21, 2026 (daily counts of boxes waiting for an on-dock train, not an average dwell time; Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach daily rail reports, via The Dwell). The Dwell. https://the-dwell.com/boxdwell/rail-dwell-la-long-beach Canonical URL: https://the-dwell.com/boxdwell/rail-dwell-la-long-beach