The Port Bottleneck Myth That Cost Supply Chains $47 Billion Last Year

Every supply chain executive in America has blamed ports for their Q3 2025 margins. Port congestion is real. But the story everyone is telling about why containers sit in Long Beach, Shanghai, and Rotterdam is wrong, and that wrong story is costing you money every single day.

Here is what the math actually says: The average container dwell time at major North American ports has stabilized at 4.2 days. That is down from 6.8 days in mid-2023. Yet complaints about port delays have gotten louder, not quieter. Simultaneously, port throughput numbers show terminal operators moving cargo at 27 percent higher speed than they did in 2022. So which is it? If ports are faster and dwell times are shorter, why is your logistics team still fighting congestion?