U.S. Union Pacific pauses service to resolve congestion for a week

With port traffic at an all-time high, causing shipping congestion in the U.S., foreign media reported that the Union Pacific Railroad would be pausing its harbor transportation services last Friday, effective as of July 19.

The affected regions include Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Washington, and Tacoma. The suspension is slated to last for a week in hopes of easing inventory backing up in storage in in-land terminals.

The economy has been seeing a resurgence since earlier this year, as the pandemic has eased up in Western countries; with the economy entering its traditional shopping peak season, foreign media reported that the Union Pacific Railroad company's in-land-based railroad transportations have been doing its best to resolve the backlog, however, management has declared a suspension of services to help ease up the situation ultimately.

Marine shipping experts believe that the companies' actions could worsen the situation instead, with the downstream blockages easing up while the problem remained unresolved in the upstream.

Experts also revealed that the current situation could last until the end of the year, as the container shortage and harbor backup issues were not just localized in the U.S. but also around the world.