Friction board
The import-friction board
A rules-based, descriptive read of where each major port complex is flowing or backing up
Data through week of Oct 19, 2026 · source last checked Oct 24, 2026 · page revised Oct 22, 2026
Cite
- Ships awaiting berth
About this data
- Source
- Ships awaiting berth from MARAD and the Marine Exchange, via BTS. Friction read: The Dwell composite of BTS indicators
- Series
- LA/Long Beach ships awaiting berth (the charted component of the friction assessment)
- Basis
- One component of the import-friction read, not the cross-complex verdict, which is the table on the page
- Geography
- LA/Long Beach chart; friction read across major US complexes
- Unit
- vessels
- Calculation
- Weekly ship-queue snapshot; the friction read is against a trailing-12-month normal band
- Last observation
- week of Oct 19, 2026
- Update frequency
- Weekly
As of the latest readings, LA/Long Beach reads flowing, NY/NJ reads flowing, Savannah reads flowing. The friction read is a fixed, rules-based label built from where each complex's ship queue, truck planning-time index and loaded-import TEU sit versus their trailing-12-month normal. The ship queue is the freshest signal, a weekly snapshot as of week of Oct 19, 2026; the truck index and loaded imports are monthly and run about two months behind (latest Aug 2026), so the freshest reading on this board is the queue. It is descriptive, never a forecast.
All three major complexes read flowing as of the latest readings. LA/Long Beach has 2 ships awaiting berth near normal, and Savannah's queue eased to zero as of the week of Oct 19. The truck planning-time index eased at LA/Long Beach and NY/NJ in Aug 2026.
| Complex | Friction read | Ships awaiting berth | Truck PTI | Loaded imports |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LA/Long Beach | Flowing | 2 ships (near normal, wk of Oct 19) | 2.26 (eased, Aug 2026) | 967,013 TEU (near normal, Jul 2026) |
| NY/NJ | Flowing | n/a | 2.23 (eased, Aug 2026) | 392,074 TEU (near normal, Jul 2026) |
| Savannah | Flowing | 0 ships (eased, wk of Oct 19) | n/a | 251,888 TEU (near normal, Jul 2026) |
Previous weeks
Week of Oct 13, 2026
LA/Long Beach reads some pressure, with ships awaiting berth at 3 (elevated as of the week of Oct 12). NY/NJ and Savannah both read flowing. The truck planning-time index and loaded imports remain near normal or eased at all three complexes. Those measures lag the ship queue by about two months (latest Aug for PTI, Jul for imports).
Week of Oct 6, 2026
All three major port complexes read flowing. Ships awaiting berth eased to 0 at LA/Long Beach and 1 at Savannah as of the week of Oct 5. Truck planning-time indices eased at LA/Long Beach and NY/NJ in August, with loaded imports near normal across all complexes as of July.
Week of Sep 22, 2026
All three major complexes read flowing. Ships awaiting berth at LA/Long Beach and Savannah stand at 2 each, near normal for the week of Sep 21. The truck planning-time index eased to 2.26 at LA/Long Beach and 2.23 at NY/NJ in August. Loaded imports remain near normal across all three in July.
Week of Sep 15, 2026
LA/Long Beach reads some pressure on 3 ships awaiting berth as of the week of Sep 14, elevated versus the trailing-12-month normal. NY/NJ and Savannah are flowing, with Savannah's queue eased at 1 ship. The truck planning-time index eased at both LA/Long Beach and NY/NJ in August, and loaded imports held near normal across all three complexes in July.
About The import-friction board
This board gives each major port complex one plain label, flowing, some pressure, or congested, built by a fixed rule. For each complex we take up to three components, the ship queue where one is published, the truck planning-time index, and loaded-import TEU, and compare each to its own trailing-12-month median. A component more than 15 percent above its normal is elevated. Zero elevated components reads flowing, one reads some pressure, two or more reads congested. The full rule is on the methodology page. Not every complex publishes every component: LA/Long Beach has all three, NY/NJ has the truck index and loaded imports but no public ship queue, and Savannah has a ship queue and loaded imports but no truck index. An n/a here is a gap in what the source publishes, not a gap in the site, and the read is judged only on the components that report. Only the ship queue is a live weekly reading; the truck index and loaded imports are monthly and land about two months after the month they cover, so each cell is dated to its own reading and the freshest reading is the weekly ship queue. It describes the current numbers; it does not predict the next move.