The real problem at the CA ports is that the different players in the marine shipping supply chain — ocean carriers, terminals, drayage trucks, shippers/receivers, chassis yards, etc. — are involved in a finely tuned process that has completely broken down mainly because of two factors: (1) a huge imbalance of trade that results in large numbers of empty containers with nowhere to go, and (2) insufficient availability of container chassis for the drayage trucks to use.
Item (2) is what is fouling up the trucking process. Some of these drivers must wait for hours at a terminal gate just because they can’t get a chassis, and when you’re paid by the load it’s not even worth showing up for work if you are going to get a single load out of a full day’s work.
No offense, either. The unbalance of containers has been around for decades. It’s been growing the whole time. The second item is similar to what I described: stacking more containers around existing ones simply exacerbates driver and truck truck problems. Available drivers and tractors are simply waiting around for loads.