Port disruption guide

How to prepare your supply chain for a port strike.

A port strike can affect vessels, terminals, containers, inland transport, inventory, production, and customer delivery at the same time. This checklist helps an operating team move from early warning to controlled action.

Read the sample port brief Run the port scenario Request a pilot scope

This guide gives general operational guidance. It does not replace legal, labor, customs, carrier, insurance, or compliance advice. Confirm each action with the responsible organization and qualified adviser.

Response timeline

Use decision windows, not one static checklist.

The exact time available can change. Start at the first useful phase and update the plan when the evidence changes.

Two to four weeks before a possible strike

Map the exposure

List exposed ports, terminals, cargo, routes, suppliers, SKUs, and customer commitments.
Confirm inventory cover and the dates when each critical item becomes constrained.
Identify alternate ports, inland routes, and transfer points. Record capacity and cut-off assumptions.

Seven to fourteen days before

Secure practical options

Check alternate ocean, port, carrier, and warehouse capacity. Reserve inland transport for approved priority cargo.
Identify customer commitments at risk. Rank cargo by production, service, safety, and customer impact.
Ask exposed suppliers to confirm shipment status, inventory, dispatch options, and escalation contacts.

Three to seven days before

Commit the selected actions

Pre-book approved alternate routing and capacity for priority cargo.
Accelerate critical loads only when the avoided impact is higher than the added cost.
Defer low-priority cargo, prepare customer communication, and define the triggers for operational and executive escalation.

Twenty-four to seventy-two hours before

Move to active control

Track port, terminal, carrier, union, customs, and government notices from primary sources.
Confirm container, bill-of-lading, vessel, diversion, and release status for each priority load.
Set review times, decision thresholds, named owners, and escalation routes.

During the disruption

Protect continuity

Track closures, berth limits, vessel diversions, congestion, container availability, and inland capacity.
Allocate remaining inventory and scarce transport capacity to the priority production lines and customer commitments.
Update impact estimates, assumptions, decisions, and customer commitments at each review.

When the port reopens

Control the backlog

Model backlog recovery from vessel queues, terminal throughput, equipment availability, and inland bottlenecks.
Review demurrage and detention exposure with the carrier, terminal, and qualified advisers.
Do not assume immediate normalization. Keep alternate routing in place until throughput meets the agreed stability threshold.

After the event

Improve the playbook

Calculate the disruption cost, avoided loss, service impact, and decision timing.
Identify failed thresholds and update the continuity assumptions, owners, and escalation rules.
Revise alternate-routing playbooks and add newly found supplier, tier, route, terminal, and inventory dependencies to the exposure map.

Minimum operating picture

Keep one record of exposure and decisions.

For each priority load, record the source, timestamp, confirmed facts, assumptions, route, item, inventory cover, owner, next decision, and customer commitment.

See port disruption monitoring Review logistics risk intelligence

Official starting sources

These sources support U.S. planning. Add the official port, terminal, carrier, customs, and labor sources for the affected location.

Port Performance Freight Statistics Program U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics Port throughput, capacity, vessel, and berthing context. How to use the Automated Commercial Environment U.S. Customs and Border Protection Official customs-system access and operational notices. Detention and demurrage billing practices Federal Maritime Commission Official background on U.S. billing rules. Check current legal status before a decision. Court decision on detention and demurrage billing practices Federal Maritime Commission A 2025 update on the court decision that changed part of the final rule.

Apply the checklist to your routes.

Start with a representative brief. Then run the scenario or define a limited pilot around one port and one critical cargo group.

Read the sample brief Run the scenario