Pursuant to Section 6018 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act (Pub. L. 114-94; Dec. 4, 2015; 129 Stat. 1312), the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) established the Port Performance Freight Statistics Program (PPFSP). The goal of the program is “to provide nationally consistent measures of performance” for the Nation’s largest ports, and to report annually to Congress on port capacity and throughput.

The FAST Act further required the BTS Director to submit an annual report to Congress, which includes at a minimum, statistics on capacity and throughput at the top 25 ports by tonnage, twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU), and dry bulk tonnage; nationally consistent port performance metrics; and recommended future measures. The Port Performance Freight Statistics Working Group (Working Group), composed of representatives from Federal, labor, port, private sector associations, and other organizations as specified in FAST Act Section 6018, advised BTS during preparation of the first report and transmitted final recommendations to the BTS Director on December 4, 2016.

This the first Annual Report under the PPSFP. It presents publicly available, nationally consistent throughput, capacity, and performance statistics for the top 25 tonnage,

container, and dry bulk ports. In doing so it reflects the discussions and recommendations of the Working Group, and the practicalities of a new program. The report also includes background information on U.S. ports and discussions of throughput and capacity concepts to provide a more complete picture of port activity and place the statistics in context.

This Annual Report meets FAST Act requirements by including recommendations on standards for consistent port performance measures and statistics for port throughput and capacity.