As of 1/6/2022, there were 106 container ships at anchor, drifting nearby, or slow steaming towards the LA / Long Beach ports. Nearly double of what was bobbing around before.
Core problem: shortage of drivers and equipment (both trucks and chassis), and the inability of the port to accept return empties (which keeps them on the chassis since there's no other place to put them, taking the chassis out of circulation).
The NPR Show Planet Money had a really good Podcast on this back in Nov. I had no idea that ports were owned, organized and run in so many different ways and how they, among other things, have led to this mess. Seems like an opportunity for a forward thinking state/business.
Of boxes and boats planet money podcast
