ORLANDO, Fla. — With an influx of funds expected to exceed $25 billion for rebuilding and expansion, the nation’s coastal and inland facilities are beginning a “golden age,” port leaders say.

Uncertainty over labor negotiations at West Coast ports and East Coast facilities seeing a surge in business are just two signs port industry leaders see in a fast-evolving environment.

Major ports and rail facilities across the U.S. Southeast have halted operations as one of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit the country advances as a tropical storm, causing disruptions along the way and resulting in another blow for already strained supply chains.

A dispute over the assignment of work at a Port of Seattle terminal potentially could disrupt talks to reach a multiyear labor agreement between 22,000 unionized dock and warehouse workers at 29 West Coast ports and management.

For at least one month, August, the Port of New York and New Jersey was the busiest container port in the U.S. as it nudged ahead of longtime leader Port of Los Angeles in total 20-foot-equivalent units processed.

Container volumes at West Coast ports are beginning to moderate but remain at a strong pace, while facilities on the Gulf and East coasts are seeing increases.

CHICAGO — White House Supply Chain Envoy Stephen Lyons said Sept. 20 he believes the recently negotiated tentative agreement between the five Class I railroads and unions — representing 150,000 railroad locomotive engineers, conductors and railroad workers — will be ratified.

With the increasing number of cargo ships on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts waiting to be unloaded nearing 150, Federal Maritime Commission member Carl Bentzel believes the upcoming peak season for retailers could be extremely challenging.

Port of Port Arthur, Texas, will receive $13.6 million in a federal USDOT grant that port officials say will significantly upgrade the East Texas facility during the next year.

The number of containerships headed for the California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — a traffic jam that once symbolized American consumer vigor during the pandemic — declined to the lowest level since the bottleneck started to build two years ago.