The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach of California have been still seeing terrible congestion up to now, with unsmooth follow-up service supplies. Many container ships full of Made-in-China goods are anchored and waiting for their turn to berth and unload. From unloading and yard stocking, containers still have to wait for many days for pickup. Buyers/importers are maddened to face the time cost difference from 15-20 days to 1 to 2 months or longer since ships departure off the Shanghai port.

source: https://volumes.portoptimizer.com/
     Here comes the question: How to choose the best container shipping solution between ports of China and LA USA?This is right the Topic of today’s blog.

     We need to find the shipping companies and lines that still perform well even in case of port congestion. Based on the data of the first 10 months in 2021, especially the data of the peak season starting from summer, we have listed the best operating routes as follow ( Ningbo and Shanghai taken as the loading ports first in this blog, followed by Xiamen, Shenzhen and others in the coming next.

1.Matson China-Long Beach Express (CLX)

 source:https://www.chinamatson.com/services/

    Of Matson’s trans Pacific routes CLX is the core advantage from Xiamen, Ningbo and Shanghai, finally to Long Beach.Due to the punctual departure of ships, the fast headway, and exclusive use terminal of unloading, this route of Matson hasn’t been influenced very much by the pandemic, and thus ensured 11 calendar days from departure off Shanghai to unloading completion upon arrival in LA. With so good points, the pricing is definitely expensive. Additionally due to the space limit, there is often a shortage of supply. It is normal to for sea freight to be sky high. However many cargo delivery schedules are very tight, which makes the CLX route very popular in the year of 2021.
Berth terminal: C60
Rating:
Departure punctuality: 10
Headway: 10
Unloading speed on arrival: 10
Freight cost performance: 8.5
Total score:38.5

2.Matson China-California Express (CCX)

  source:https://www.chinamatson.com/services/

      The CCX route is initiated in 2021. Compared with CLX, the difference is that CCX will transit in Oakland before arrive in Long Beach, which makes the total route longer by 2 to 3 days. But CCX also adopts Matson’s exclusive use terminal, which is also the core advantage of this new route. Although later by 2 to 3 days than CLX, CCX freight is also relatively cheaper, which brings the similar popularity by the market.
Rating:
Departure punctuality: 10
Headway: 8.5
Unloading speed on arrival: 10
Freight cost performance: 8
Total Score:36.5

3.Matson China-Long Beach Express Plus (CLX PLUS)

    source:https://www.chinamatson.com/services/
    The history of CLX PLUS is much longer than CCX. Initially it’s estimated that Matson decided to present an option of CLX Plus due to the supply shortage of CLX service.
     CLX Plus service at departure ports are quite excellent, and the headway is close to perfect as well. However, the berthing terminal is not exclusively used by Matson. Therefore, this service can also expect long-waiting berthing in case of super congestion. Sometimes it could be 7 days or even longer. Although the freight is lower than CLX service, still the cost performance is possibly lower than CCX.
Berthing terminal: PIER A

Rating:
Departure punctuality: 9.5
Headway: 9.5
Unloading speed on arrival: 7.5
Freight cost performance: 7
Total Score:33.5

4.CMA Eagle Express X(EXX) 

  source:http://www.cma-cgm.com/products-services/line-services/flyer/EXX    
     This service is regarded as a copy and competitor against Matson’s CLX. It has copied CLX from design and naming, but not competitive. EXX service is short with the departure speed at the loading port. The punctuality of departure can’t be well kept as Matson does, but frequently delayed. Plus, the terminal at the arrival port is not exclusive either. Therefore no 12-13 days loading can be achieved as advertised, and the final period is about 15 days. Ironically, the similarity lies on the sky-high pricing.
Berthing Terminal: TRAPAC
Rating:
Departure punctuality: 7.5
Headway: 9
Unloading speed on arrival: 8
Freight cost performance: 7
Total score:31.5

 5.OOCL leading Pacific China Central 1(PCC1)

source:https://www.oocl.com/schi/ourservices/serviceroutes/tptday4/Pages/default.aspx

     All the group of ships in service are from OOCL. This service vessel name are mostly as following: OOCL TOKYO,OOCL SOUTHAMPTON,OOCL UTAH,OOCL TAIPEI. As members of Ocean Alliance, Evergreen, CMA and COSCO also offer spaces on this route. Based on my previous experience, with five vessels studied, the estimated period from departure to arrival loading is 20 days. So PCC1 service is reliable, and the reason is the berthing terminal, i.e., LBCT.   
      LBCT, as a fully-automated terminal, has played an important role in case of the pandemic. Imagine all terminals in the USA were fully automated, no present super congestion would have taken place. It may indicate the right direction of technical upgrading of ports in the USA.

Rating:
Departure punctuality: 6.5
Headway: 8
Unloading speed on arrival: 8
Freight cost performance: 8
Total Score:30.5

6.Evergreen CPS service to Los Angeles

    source:https://www.shipmentlink.com/tvs2/jsp/TVS2_ServiceProfile.jsp?line=CPS&segment=E  
      All boats of this group belong to Evergreen that offers major container spaces. Normal ships include: EVER LOYAL,EVER LEADER,EVER LAMBENT,EVER LINKING,EVER FAST. Based on my previous experience, with six vessels studied, the estimated period from departure to arrival loading is 20-25 days.
Berthing terminal: APM TERMINAL 400
Rating:
Departure punctuality: 7
Headway: 8
Unloading speed on arrival: 8
Freight cost performance: 8.5
Total Score:31.5

7.CMA Eagle Express 1(EX1)

source:http://www.apl.com/products-services/line-services/flyer/EX1APL
    One feature of ships in service for this service is their long names and all vessels names are using US famous presidents, like PRESIDENT FD ROOSEVELT，PRESIDENT EISENHOWERR. Sincerely I hope to see the ship named PRESIDENT TRUMP in the near future. This route is a major one independently operated by CMA. Based on experience, EX1 can guarantee the quality of service and loading time, with 21-26 days until unloading completion.
Berthing terminal: FENIX
Rating:
Departure punctuality: 6.5
Headway: 8
Unloading speed on arrival: 7.5
Freight cost performance: 8
Total score:30   

     Above are listed 7 routes of container shipping from China to Los Angeles, almost all within the range of 30 days from departure to arrival unloading completion. 
     To sum up,please read the following:
    If your cargo delivery schedule is very stringent, it is better to select Matson CLX service.
    If CLX service space is limited,you can choose CCX service.
     If you also can not get CCX service space,then you can look for CLX PLUS or EXX service.
     Then if your cargo order cancel date can extend to 30days from on board, then you can select your container shipping plan from PCC1,CPS and EX1 service.These 3 options will help you to save cost and catch your deadline.
    I really hope this article will help you to find your right container shipping routes in such uncertain days when Los angeles ports facing huge congestion.