On the heels of what was the busiest August seen at the Port of Long Beach, CEO Noel Hacegaba said on Wednesday, Sept. 16, that he anticipates a strong end of the year that could have an even a longer “peak season” than originally expected.
The port moved 919,992 container units last month — a record for August.
“Not only did that break the August record from 2024,” Hacegaba said, “but it also ranked as the fifth busiest month in the port’s 115-year history.”
Year to date, he added, dockworkers have moved 6.7 million containers during the first eight months of 2026, a 1.5% year-over-year increase compared to the same period in 2025, “which was a record year.”
As for the impacts of tariffs and Canada, Hacegaba said, consumers will feel impacts when it comes to wine in particular.
While the port isn’t directly affected, as most Canadian imports cross by train into middle America, there are still impacts on imports for dairy and wine, which are tied specifically to California trade.
Joining Hacegaba as a guest on Wednesday was Anne Reinke, president and CEO of the Intermodal Association of North America.
The two discussed the status of intermodal transit — containers using more than one mode of transportation. Between tariffs and shipping route complications, intermodal transit is becoming a more prominent option.
“We are having an intermodal moment,” Reinke said, as shippers use different ways to get cargo where it needs to go.
Fuel prices are a major factor, Reinke said, presenting challenges to truck operations not able to sustain their business.
Rail is playing a larger role in some of those alternative plans that need to be available.
“Cargo follows a path of least resistance,” Hacegaba said, adding that the port’s Pier B rail development is an example of decisions that will better accommodate the future.
The $1.8 billion Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility is the centerpiece of the port’s rail capital improvement program, designed to shift more cargo to on-dock rail, taking containers to and from marine terminals by train.
Moving cargo by on-dock rail is also cleaner and more efficient, port officials have said, while it also cuts down on truck traffic. No cargo trucks would visit the facility. Construction began in 2024 and is anticipated to be finished in 2032.
On other topics, Hacegaba said this year already promised an extended peak season — the period that typically sees a surge of imports in anticipation of back-to-school, and the fall and winter holidays — that would stretch possibly into fall. Typically, the season has been more focused, stretching from early to mid-summer and into late summer or early fall.
This year, he said, the port’s high cargo numbers in what has already been a much longer “peak season” now could extend into possibly the first half of November.
Hacegaba also said there is new caution about whether consumers will begin to pull back on spending.
Consumer confidence, he said, appears to be softening, hitting a level that in the past has been associated with a recession coming within a year.
The impacts of growing consumer caution can appear when people begin eating out less often and putting off large purchases, he said, behavior that will also then impact the overall economy.
“The strong cargo numbers today may tell us less about how consumers feel right now,” he said.
The Associated Press reported on Aug. 25 that consumer confidence appears to be taking a hit.
Americans’ confidence dipped in August as the ongoing conflict in Iran continued to push U.S. gasoline prices above $4 per gallon, AP reported, adding that the August confidence numbers — 89.4 down from 90.2 in July — was the lowest level in seven months, though it was within the same range as it had been since the beginning of the year.
In California, the price of regular gas as of Wednesday, Sept. 16, stood at more than $6 a gallon, according to AAA.