Readout of USDOT and NEC’s Convening of East Coast Ports

Today, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Economic Council convened East Coast ports to discuss capacity concerns and other issues caused by the suspension of vessel traffic into and out of the Port of Baltimore. 

Port participants shared that diverted containers and roll-on/roll-off cargo from Baltimore is being spread across East Coast ports to match existing capacity, and collaboration is continuing between ports, automobile manufacturers, railroad companies, and others to keep cargo flowing through the supply chain. Ports did not express any concerns about absorbing containers that are being diverted from Baltimore and are closely communicating about capacity to take on more roll-on/roll-off shipments. Roll-on/roll-off cargo remains an evolving logistics discussion. 

Tradepoint Atlantic shared an update on work being done to expand capacity at its terminal as part of the effort to ensure as much cargo continues to flow through Baltimore as possible. 

The Biden-Harris Administration continues to communicate with port, labor, and industry partners to advance collaboration at all levels – borne out of the lessons learned during COVID-driven disruptions – including monitoring container volume shifts and terminal utilization to better anticipate the movement of goods and capacity needs through DOT’s innovative data-sharing partnership FLOW.  

Yesterday, DOT staff met with FLOW participants for an update on changes in East Coast inbound container traffic to the Port of Savannah and the Port of New York and New Jersey. Last Thursday, Secretary Pete Buttigieg and other Administration officials held a meeting with over 100 leaders from across the supply chain following the suspension of Port of Baltimore vessel traffic. The National Economic Council has also repeatedly convened the Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force to continue coordination of the Biden-Harris Administration’s response to supply chain impacts.