Who Pays for the Empty Boxes?

U.S. ports are breaking records. But what do those numbers hide?

Los Angeles and Long Beach had a record September.

Together, they handled more than 2 million TEU.

But nearly 770,000 TEU carried no cargo.

That’s more than one in three container moves.

Ships still had to carry those boxes.

And terminals still had to handle them.

A record month can hide a very different cost picture.

So who pays when containers travel empty?

Here are 4️⃣ signals:

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1️⃣ Empty boxes are a big part