Listen to the article
This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have any feedback.
Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Texas early Monday morning as a Category 1 hurricane, devastating the coastal city of Matagorda, Texas — about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Houston — with winds of nearly 80 mph (130 kph), a U.S. government report said. USA Today tracker, updated July 10.
The storm left more than 2.5 million homes in Texas without power. Highways were flooded and trees and other debris fell, affecting life, businesses and, therefore, logistics.
Although Beryl has now weakened to a tropical depression, its initial impact caused delays for all modes of shipping. Here’s what supply chain managers need to know as the storm’s remnants move north.
Maritime shipping
On a DAT weekly market updatePaul Brashier, VP of ITS Logistics, said the storm disrupted Texas ports early this week. Several ports have since reported normal operations, with recovery efforts underway, he added.
Initially, the ports of Brownsville, Corpus Christi and Galveston, which handle cargo such as crude oil, were closed on Sunday but resumed normal operations after the storm passed on Monday, Scott Hoffmann, VP of North American surface transportation at CH Robinson Worldwide, told Supply Chain Dive in an email.
The Port of Houston was impacted more by Beryl and remained closed Tuesday to assess damage and make necessary repairs, Hoffman said. Starting Wednesday, the port announced extended gate hours to move containers.
Hoffmann added that CH Robinson transports cargo from Latin America, Europe and Asia to Houston on behalf of oil and gas companies and retail customers.
The Houston Ship Channel is a 52-mile-long federal waterway that serves eight public and more than 200 private terminals, a Port of Houston spokesperson told Supply Chain Dive in an email.
Currently, power outages and damage to facilities are having the greatest impact on port operations. The spokesman added that the port’s eight public terminals were “doing fine”, with slight impact on systems.
“The eight public facilities at Port Houston will reopen to shipping tonight and return to normal gate operations Wednesday morning, with extended hours at the container terminals just two days after the storm made landfall, limiting the total closure of the public terminals to just three days,” the spokesperson said.
Air freight
About 1,700 flights were canceled Monday at both George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and William P. Hobby Airport (HOU), disrupting domestic air cargo, Hoffmann said in an email. Cargo hubs were also closed Monday.
Based on 2023 airport dataLast year, IAH handled approximately 523,569 tons of air cargo, while HOU handled 10,559 tons.
While flights delayed by the storm have since resumed, airlines are still working to clear the backlog of cargo created by the shutdown, Hoffman said.
“Many incoming flights from abroad have already landed or are underway and will arrive as scheduled,” he said. “We were prepared to divert to other airports like Dallas or Atlanta and move cargo there, but that was not necessary. Things are pretty much back to normal for our international airline operations.”
Last mile
On WednesdayFedEx reported that Beryl was causing “hazardous conditions” in Southeast Texas, particularly in the Houston area, with continued delays expected for inbound and outbound shipments in the region. FedEx listed 285 zip codes affected, primarily in the Houston area.
UPS also confirmed in the meantime in a service warning that delays are expected in the Houston area, and that “UPS facilities will provide pickup and delivery services as conditions permit.”
The UPS air freight office in Houston was operating without power on Tuesday with minimal available service. UPS said operations were expected to resume on Wednesday.
Freight transport
The wind, flooding and debris from the storm limited truck loading capacity in Gulf Coast markets, particularly for vans and flatbed trucks, Dean Croke, principal analyst at DAT iQ, told Supply Chain Dive in an email.
Hoffmann said some truckload carriers in the Houston area continued to operate during the storm, though those with loads headed to affected areas halted transportation. He added that less-than-truckload shipments coming to and from South Texas can still expect delays. Power outages have also kept many shipping facilities closed, creating a further backlog.
“LTL terminals can close if flooding prevents workers or drivers from getting there,” he said. “Power outages can also prevent terminals from processing paperwork.”
Although the storm avoided the border crossing at Laredo, Texas, auto parts and other cargo bound for the U.S. and Canada from northeastern Mexico could face delays due to flooding, Hoffman said in a statement. Shipments of produce such as limes, mangoes and avocados from Mexico could also be delayed, Hoffman said, adding that CH Robinson “will be ready to reroute loads around the storm if necessary.”
Rail
Railroads BNSF and United Pacific initially closed or postponed operations due to Beryl, but have slowly resumed operations in areas affected by the storm.
BNSF’s Pearland Intermodal Facility is now open for boarding and disembarking, and train flows through the Houston complex have resumed. according to an update on tuesdayThe rail operator said its teams are currently working to clear the backlog of freight and advised customers to expect ongoing delays.
“Express pickup service at Pearland is being encouraged to improve traffic flows, reduce parking lot congestion and create the space needed to quickly process incoming cargo as operations return to normal following Hurricane Beryl,” BNSF said in the update.
Union Pacific meanwhile said in an announcement on tuesday that all affected sections of track had been repaired except those in the Galveston area.
However, the loss of power has impacted Union Pacific’s signaling systems and the smoothness of trains, a spokesperson told Supply Chain Dive in an email. “As a result, delays should be expected for rail shipments traveling through the affected area,” they added.
Trains on tracks jointly operated by CPKC and Union Pacific on railroads in the Brownsville area have also returned to service, Hoffmann said
Editor’s Note: This story first appeared in our Logistics Weekly newsletter. Sign up here.
