FedEx Logistics announced a “congestion bypass service” to help shippers navigate through the backlogged Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The company will sell shippers space on empty containers, which sail to the Port of Hueneme, located in Ventura County less than 100 miles north of Los Angeles. FedEx is offering three charter vessels that have “a capacity of 300 53-foot containers per sailing.” The first vessel is scheduled to arrive at the end of the month.
Last November, close to 160 ships were stuck outside the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports and could not unload goods. The port backlog is likely the main driver in President Joe Biden’s supply chain crisis.
FedEx ships will dock at a U.S. Navy terminal once they arrive from China in an agreement between port authorities and the United States Navy.
“Our long-standing joint use agreement with Naval Base Ventura County is the foundation of a dynamic partnership used to create solutions like these while increasing operational efficiency in the maritime industry”, said Commissioner Jason T. Hodge, President of the Oxnard Harbor District that owns the Port of Hueneme.
According to FedEx, its service will allow shippers to cut 20 days worth of transit time.
“L.A. can be seen as the heart of the supply chain to a certain extent. Now you have a clogged artery there, and you can’t just pump it out anymore,” FedEx Logistics CEO Udo Lange said in December. Now you really need to do more drastic heart surgery and from then on reintroduce flow.”