The Port of New York and New Jersey has overtaken the Port of Long Beach to become the second busiest container port by loaded containers handled for the first time in two decades.
According to its 2019 financial results, New York and New Jersey handled just over 5.23 million TEU as it broke its overall volume record with traffic of 7.47 million TEU, a 4.1% increase on 2018.
It also set a new all-time record for cargo handled by rail by handling 664,987 TEU, a spike of 3% on 2018.
Despite the record in loaded containers, New York-New Jersey remains the third busiest container port when empty containers are taken into account.
Port Technology International recently explored the five busiest ports in the US
Its overall traffic fell short of the 7.6 million TEU handled by Long Beach in 2019, which in itself was a drop of 5.7%.
New York and New Jersey said its growth could be credited to the completion of the ExpressRail Port Jersey facility, as part of its inter-modal rail network spanning facilities Elizabeth, Newark and Staten Island.
It saw growth across all its operations, including passengers, cars, rail and air.