Tracking U.S. Supply Chain Congestion: GS Supply Chain Congestion Scale – Apr 6th; Index Slightly Lower W/W, Bottleneck Scale Remains at ‘2’
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For the week of April 6, the Goldman Sachs Supply Chain Congestion Index edged down 3.8% week-over-week. The overall bottleneck scale remains at '2' out of 10, signaling congestion levels significantly below the peak reading of '10' seen in late 2021 and early 2022. This suggests supply chain mobility is approaching pre-pandemic norms.
Mixed indicators across key metrics drove the weekly results. On the West Coast, the backlog of container vessels waiting to unload increased slightly from zero to one ship, while East Coast congestion improved, dropping from eleven vessels to five. West Coast rail intermodal traffic volume saw its year-over-year decline narrow from negative 4% to negative 3%. However, rail service metrics presented divergent trends. Union Pacific's intermodal velocity grew 8.5% year-over-year, while its system dwell time slightly increased to 20.3 hours. Similarly, BNSF saw a 3.3% intermodal velocity increase alongside a 22.6-hour dwell time.
At U.S. ports, chassis dwell times presented mixed signals, with 20-foot container street dwell times rising to 5.3 days. Meanwhile, ocean freight rates from China to the U.S. West Coast stabilized, with their year-over-year decline narrowing to approximately zero percent.
Looking forward, if supply chain pressures continue to ease, the index could stabilize within the '1' range in 2026. However, future freight demand and global trade normalization remain key variables highly dependent on the evolving landscape of tariffs and geopolitical conflicts.