Report published September 28, 2026

Tracking U.S. Supply Chain Congestion: Goldman Sachs Weekly Update

Goldman Sachs · September 28, 2026

Goldman Sachs' weekly Supply Chain Congestion Scale remained steady at '2' as the weekly composite index eased -5% WoW, well below peak bottleneck levels. While port backlogs and rail dwell times showed improvements or stability, ocean container shipping rates between China and the US West Coast rose +4% WoW to ~$8.10k/FEU (+271% YoY).

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Finvaulta summarizes Goldman Sachs's analysis. Attribute opinions, forecasts, time-sensitive values, and chronology to the issuer and report date; do not treat this page as an independent verification or a current market-data source.

Key Takeaways

1.The GS weekly bottleneck scale remained unchanged at '2', with the weekly composite index decreasing by -5% week-over-week, remaining far below peak congestion levels of '10' and close to pre-Covid fluidity.
2.West Coast container ship queues remained at 1 vessel, while East Coast backlogs decreased from 8 to 5 vessels.
3.West Coast Class 1 rail intermodal traffic growth rebounded to +12% YoY (UNP +16.7%, BNSF +8.1%), supported by holiday timing, while dwell and train speeds broadly improved.

Transport Subsectors to Watch as Congestion Remains Muted
Indicator Updates
Weekly Indicator Update
Anchored Container Ships
Rail Intermodal Trends
Chassis Dwell Time
Ocean Shipping Rates
Lagged Monthly Indicators (July Data)
San Pedro's Bay Container Dwell
“Big Three” West Coast Ports’ Inbound Loaded Containers
Door to Door Shipping, China to US
Trucking Employee Count
LMI Capacity and Utilization
LMI Warehouse Capacity Index
LMI Warehouse Utilization Index
PMI Supplier Delivery Times

Report data

Exhibit 1: Our weekly composite index increased in the most recent week (-5% w/w); the bottleneck scale remained at '2'; overall bottleneck levels remain well below peak congestion levels when scale was at '10' and now imply levels in line with pre-Covid fluidity

Metric	Estimate	Context
GS Supply Chain Congestion Scale (Weekly)	2 scale (1-10)	Remained unchanged at '2', indicating near pre-Covid baseline fluidity.
GS Weekly Bottleneck Index	-5%	Absolute level of congestion index fell sequentially by -5% WoW.
West Coast Container Ships Backlog	1 ships	Vessels waiting to dock and unload at Ports of LA/Long Beach.
East Coast Container Ships Backlog	5 ships	Estimated container ship backlog along East/Gulf Coast ports.
West Coast Class 1 Rail Intermodal Volume Growth	12 % YoY	Combined growth across UNP and BNSF rail lines.

Source: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research; Marine Exchange of Southern California; Refinitiv Eikon, GS Data Works; AAR. This is a dated model snapshot, not a live forecast.