U.S. Retailers Expect September to Be Among the Busiest Import Months of the Year
U.S. retailers expect September to be one of the busiest import months of the year, potentially putting pressure on vessel space, ports, and inland transportation.
What are the key facts?
- 1September is expected to be one of the busiest import months of the year
- 2Transportation resources between Asia and the U.S. may face pressure
- 3Sellers may face queues for inbound warehouse appointments
What happened?
The Journal of Commerce noted on its industry page dated September 10, 2026, that U.S. retailers expect September to be one of the busiest import months of the year. Platform promotions, fall sales, and year-end holiday-season inventory preparation may put simultaneous pressure on vessel schedules from Asia to the U.S., container equipment, port handling capacity, and truck and rail capacity.\n\nFor Amazon FBA, Walmart Fulfillment Services, third-party overseas warehouse, and multichannel sellers, concentrated September shipments may lead to delayed space confirmation, rolled containers, longer port waiting times, higher drayage and final-mile truck rates, and queues for inbound warehouse appointments. Sellers of bulky home goods, furniture, auto parts, and seasonal products can split replenishment across ocean, rail, air freight, and express channels and allow extra buffer time for FBA receiving and transfers to overseas warehouses. Time-sensitive new products should also avoid placing all inventory with a single port or freight forwarder.
What does this mean for cross-border sellers?
Import demand is expected to be high in September, putting potential pressure on vessel schedules, containers, ports, trucks, and rail capacity between Asia and the U.S. Sellers shipping in concentrated volumes should prepare for delayed space confirmation, rolled containers, port waits, higher final-mile rates, and inbound appointment queues; time-sensitive products should not rely on a single port or forwarder.
What should sellers do now?
- 1Split September and later replenishment orders across ocean, rail, air freight, and express channels this week; allocate the necessary expedited-shipping share for time-sensitive SKUs and retain replenishment batches that can be adjusted.Procurement List
- 2Check space confirmation, rolled-container handling, port waiting conditions, and final-mile arrangements with the freight forwarder for each shipment, while reserving extra time for FBA receiving or transfers to overseas warehouses.Market Trends
- 3Establish at least two port and freight-forwarder options for this month's shipments, compare transit times and inbound arrangements for each route, and avoid placing all inventory with a single port or forwarder.