Port of Los Angeles sets all-time record with 1,042,652 TEUs in September

The Port of Los Angeles handled a record 1,042,652 twenty-foot equivalent units in September, the busiest month in the port's 118-year history, according to FreightWaves on Oct. 12. The tally beat the previous record, set in July 2025, by more than 20,000 TEUs.

The breakdown shows loaded imports of 545,696 TEUs, up 19% from a year earlier, and loaded exports of 125,751 TEUs, up 10%. Empty containers totaled about 371,206 TEUs — the highest monthly empty count the port has ever recorded, a sign of how aggressively shippers are repositioning equipment. The July-through-September quarter moved nearly 3 million TEUs, the busiest quarter on record, and the four-month June-to-September stretch of nearly 4 million TEUs was the strongest ever. Through September, the port has handled nearly 8.1 million TEUs, more than 3% ahead of last year's pace.

Executive Director Gene Seroka credited resilient consumer demand, inventory replenishment, and shippers shifting cargo to Los Angeles as problems persist on the Suez and Panama Canal routes. He also said easing tariff policy has given importers more cost certainty to keep goods moving.

For drivers, the record points to continued inbound volume on the West Coast — drayage and transload work out of the LA basin should stay busy heading into the holiday push.