The Georgia Ports Authority reported handling a record volume of 519,390 twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) containers in May.  This was an 8.5 percent increase over the corresponding month in 2021.  The Port of Virginia processed more than 314,000 TEUs in May also a record.  The Port of Charleston, S.C. handled 255,104 TEUs an 11.0 percent increase over May 2021.

Increased traffic was due to diversion of vessels from the West Coast that are encountering problems of congestion and delays in moving containers away from port facilities. During the past year, most East Coast ports have improved efficiency by creating off-site staging areas for containers. A recent report by an international agency confirmed that major East Coast ports were ranked highly in efficiency compared to the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles in California.