2023 Port Performance Freight Statistics Program: Annual Report to Congress, a congressionally-mandated report on capacity and throughput at the top U.S. maritime ports, is now available from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). As part of its Port Performance Freight Statistics Program, BTS publishes continuously updated tables and reports a snapshot to Congress each January.

Reporting by the BTS Port Performance Freight Statistics Program presents nationally consistent capacity and throughput measures for the top 25 ports by tonnage, 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU), or dry bulk tonnage. Additionally, it reports on recent supply chain challenges and record low water impacting ports on the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio rivers.

Waterborne vessels handled over $1.5 trillion in U.S.-international freight in 2020, more than 40% of total U.S.-international freight value. Also in 2020, waterborne vessels carried nearly 1.5 billion tons of U.S.-international freight, 70% of total trade weight.

In addition to the Annual Report, BTS maintains a set of interactive online Port Profiles of the top 50 U.S. ports featuring a wide range of port measures, such as vessel calls by type, vessel dwell times, top commodities, and updates specific to each port. Also, BTS maintains a monthly container port activity dashboard and publishes periodic port-related data spotlights.

Learn more about the BTS Port Performance Freight Statistics Program at https://www.bts.gov/ports.