The Port of Los Angeles three-month cargo record reached 2,919,104.75 TEUs in summer 2026, beating the previous 2021 peak by only 2,491.30 TEUs.

Aerial view of the Port of Los Angeles
Illustrative aerial view of the Port of Los Angeles. Photo: Port of Los Angeles

Waterfront workers handled 955,907 TEUs in August alone. More than 2.9 million TEUs crossed the docks over the three summer months, according to the port’s August cargo statement.

A record decided by 2,491 TEUs

The port’s own monthly series puts the June-August figure at 2,919,104.75 TEUs. By comparison, the previous best run of three consecutive months came in March, April and May 2021. That run reached 2,916,613.45 TEUs. At August 2026’s average daily volume, the gap between them amounts to less than a tenth of a day.

Best three consecutive months in each year at the Port of Los Angeles, 2020 to 2026, in TEUs
Three-month window Total TEUs Difference from June to August 2026
June to August 2026 2,919,104.75 —
March to May 2021 2,916,613.45 −2,491.30
June to August 2025 2,870,532.20 −48,572.55
July to September 2024 2,854,903.80 −64,200.95
August to October 2020 2,826,186.10 −92,918.65
March to May 2022 2,813,931.55 −105,173.20
June to August 2023 2,345,341.90 −573,762.85

Each row is the strongest three-month run of its year. Window totals and differences are editorial calculations from the port’s published monthly tables; 2026 covers January to August only.

Sources: Port of Los Angeles container statistics, annual monthly tables for 2020 to 2026.

August itself was not a record month. In fact, the port logged 955,906.50 TEUs against 958,355.15 a year earlier. That is a fall of 0.26 per cent. Loaded imports slipped 0.84 per cent to 500,301.50 TEUs. Loaded exports dropped 9.28 per cent to 115,561.25 TEUs, while empty containers rose 4.16 per cent to 340,043.75 TEUs. The record is therefore cumulative. It rests on a June above one million TEUs and a July of 960,464.25 TEUs.

Alameda Corridor averaged 509 TEUs per train in early 2026

About 26 per cent of the port’s total cargo moves across the on-dock rail network. About 35 per cent of intermodal containers use the port’s rail services. Five on-dock yards and the near-dock Intermodal Container Transfer Facility serve seven container terminals. The Alameda Corridor connects the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to the transcontinental rail network.

The Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority logged 5,569 trains in the first half of 2026. That is an average of 31 a day. Those trains carried 2,836,147 use-fee TEUs, equivalent to 509 TEUs per train. That is the highest figure in the authority’s series, which begins in 2002 at 168 TEUs per train.

Alameda Corridor trains and TEUs per train, 2021 to 2026
Year Trains Trains per day Use-fee TEUs TEUs per train
2021 11,539 32 4,907,039 425
2024 11,479 31 5,584,399 486
2025 11,728 32 5,831,692 497
2026, January to June 5,569 31 2,836,147 509

Sources: Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority, train counts.

However, the authority’s figures cover traffic from both Los Angeles and Long Beach, and they currently stop at June. They therefore cannot show how much Port of Los Angeles cargo moved by rail across the full June-to-August record period. TEUs per train do not by themselves establish the physical length of a train, because loading patterns and empty shares also affect the ratio.

In June alone the corridor handled 480,224 on-corridor TEUs on 956 trains. In June 2025 it handled 418,636 TEUs on 875 trains. TEUs per train therefore rose from 478 to 502, while the number of trains rose as well.

Revenue did not follow volume. The authority’s financial year to June brought 143,006,971 dollars, 0.4 per cent more than a year earlier, even though on-corridor volume fell 3.2 per cent to 5,752,345 TEUs. In the previous financial year revenue totalled 142,415,475 dollars on 5,939,660 on-corridor TEUs.

Tariff deadlines in late July

The timing coincided with a broader early peak season at United States container ports. The National Retail Federation said retailers moved goods forward before the late-July tariff changes and in response to other supply-chain uncertainties. Temporary Section 122 global tariffs of 10 per cent expired on 23 July. A further round of Section 301 tariffs of 10 to 12.5 per cent came into force the following day, covering 60 economies and affecting 99 per cent of United States imports. Ports tracked by the federation’s Global Port Tracker handled 12.7 million TEUs of imports in the first half of 2026, up 1.1 per cent year on year.

The port’s outlook into the autumn

Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, pointed to strong momentum in the closing months of the year. He added that “Los Angeles is well positioned to respond as global trade patterns continue to evolve.”

Seroka also told the port’s monthly briefing that trans-Pacific rates now favour East Coast routings over West Coast ones. Even so, he said, boxes travel quickly from berth to train in Los Angeles. That speed can still leave the overall economics in the port’s favour for importers serving inland markets.