How Hurricane Beryl is impacting logistics operations in Houston
Maritime shipping
On a DAT weekly market update, Paul Brashier, VP of ITS Logistics, said the storm disrupted Texas ports early in the week. Since then, multiple ports reported normal operations, with recovery efforts underway, he added.
Initially, the Ports of Brownsville, Corpus Christi and Galveston — which handle cargo like crude oil — shut down on Sunday but resumed normal operations after the storm’s passing on Monday, Scott Hoffmann, VP of North American surface transportation at C.H. Robinson Worldwide, told Supply Chain Dive in an email.
The Port of Houston faced a more significant impact from Beryl and remained closed Tuesday to assess the damage and make necessary repairs, Hoffman said. Starting Wednesday, the port announced longer gate hours to get containers moving.
Hoffmann added that C.H. Robinson brings freight into Houston from Latin America, Europe and Asia on behalf of oil and gas companies and retailer clients.
The Houston Ship Channel is a 52-mile federal waterway that services eight public and more than 200 private terminals, a Houston Port spokesperson told Supply Chain Dive in an email.
Currently, power outages and facility damages have had the biggest impact on port operations. The spokesperson added that the port’s eight public terminals “fared OK,” with slight impact to its systems.
“Port Houston eight public facilities will resume operations this evening for vessel operations and on Wednesday morning returned to normal start times for gate operations, offering extended hours at the container terminals just 2 days after storm landfall, with total closure of the public terminals limited to only three days,” the spokesperson said.
Air cargo
Roughly 1,700 flights were canceled on Monday at both George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and William P. Hobby Airport (HOU), disrupting domestic air cargo, Hoffmann said in an email. Cargo hubs also shut down on Monday.
Based on 2023 airport data, IAH handled around 523,569 tonnes of air cargo, while HOU processed 10,559 tonnes last year.
Although en route flights delayed by the storm have since resumed, carriers are navigating cargo backlog from the shutdown, Hoffman added.
“Many inbound flights from overseas have already landed or are en route and scheduled to arrive as planned,” he said. “We were prepared to divert to other airports such as Dallas or Atlanta and truck air freight from there, but it hasn’t been necessary. Things are pretty much back to normal for our international air operations.”
Last mile
On Wednesday, FedEx reported that Beryl caused “hazardous conditions” in Southeast Texas, particularly in the Houston area, with ongoing delays expected for inbound and outbound shipments in the region. FedEx listed 285 impacted ZIP codes, primarily in the Houston area.
UPS, meanwhile, also confirmed in a service alert that operations in the Houston region are expecting delays, noting that “UPS facilities will provide pickup and delivery services as conditions permit.”
The Houston UPS air freight office was operating without electricity with minimum available service on Tuesday. UPS said that operations were expected to resume Wednesday
