Los Angeles Set a Cargo Record. More Than a Third of the Total Was Empty Containers.
ECONOMY / THE WORKING WATERFRONT OCTOBER 19, 2026 LOS ANGELES · SEPTEMBER CARGO Los Angeles sets a cargo record. What does it measure? Los Angeles handled 1.043 million TEUs in September. More than a third were empty-container movements. Reading the breakdown makes the milestone more useful, not less real. The whole gateway, not the whole U.S. economy. The figures in this report cover the Port of Los Angeles series. Photo courtesy of the Port of Los Angeles . File photo. 1.043m Total September TEUs Loaded cargo plus empty equipment 35.6% Empty share of monthly TEUs Calculated from the port table +3.38% January–September total Versus the same 2025 period The Port of Los Angeles handled a record 1,042,652 twenty-foot equivalent units in September, according to its October 9 announcement. The milestone is real. So is a qualification that belongs beside it: about 371,206 TEUs were empty containers. Roughly 35.6% of the monthly total measured equipment moving through the port without a ...