A tentative agreement covering longshore workers at the largest U.S. ports is within reach after a year of negotiations between the union and employers, according to Stephen Lyons.

The pandemic’s cargo crush pushed the Los Angeles and Long Beach complex close to the breaking point, allowing ports from New York-New Jersey to Houston to grow their market share.

The labor union representing 22,000 U.S. West Coast dockworkers in contract renewal talks said it has reached a tentative agreement with their employers on “certain key issues.”

The largest container gateway into the U.S. remained closed April 7 as a shortage of dockworker labor that halted operations April 6 goes into a second day.

The White House’s supply chain envoy said the ports and logistics industry must move toward automation, a sticking point in protracted contract talks between U.S. West Coast dockworkers and their employers.

Supply chains across the world are healing up almost as fast as they broke down. That doesn’t mean the pressure they’re exerting on inflation will disappear as quickly.

A year ago in early January, a record 109 containerships carrying U.S. imports surrounded the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif. — as of today, the queue is gone.

President Joe Biden is taking on the concentrated market power of ocean shipping companies, although officials at the agency overseeing the industry indicated they lack both the jurisdiction and, for now, any evidence of wrongdoing.

The bottlenecked ports in Los Angeles face a narrow window between now and midyear to clear container backlogs before another import surge and union contract talks threaten to stall progress moving record volumes of cargo through the busiest U.S. gateway for trade.

U.S. supply chains have a chance to return to more normal operations after retailers replenish inventories next quarter, even if the next peak shipping season arrives sooner than usual, Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said Feb. 9.